Kenya Government Reassures Public After Cyberattack Targets Presidential Website
NAIROBI, KENYA — The Kenyan government has broken its silence following a high-profile cyberattack that targeted the official website of President William Ruto on Saturday, July 18, 2026.
The digital breach saw the homepage of president.go.ke defaced and replaced with demeaning messages directed at the Head of State. The hackers behind the attack issued an ultimatum, demanding a ransom payment in Bitcoin equivalent to approximately KSh 41.3 million.
In a swift intervention, the Ministry of Information, Communications and The Digital Economy, led by Cabinet Secretary H.E. Hon. William Kabogo Gitau, issued an official press release addressing the incident.
Taking to social media to provide clear clarification, CS Kabogo reassured Kenyans that the state’s cybersecurity teams moved quickly to manage the breach.
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According to the official statement, the ICT Authority immediately activated established cybersecurity incident response protocols upon detecting the threat.
“As a precautionary measure, access to the Presidential website was temporarily restricted to facilitate containment, forensic analysis and restoration efforts,” Kabogo stated in the letter.
Crucially, the Ministry sought to alleviate public anxiety regarding data safety, confirming that no critical infrastructure was compromised. The statement clarified that there is currently no evidence of unauthorized access to sensitive data, data exfiltration, or loss of information, affirming that other core government systems and digital services remain secure and fully operational.
The ICT Authority is working closely with relevant government agencies and technical partners to conduct a comprehensive forensic investigation and establish the full circumstances surrounding the attack.
While appropriate mitigation measures have been implemented and full website restoration is actively underway, authorities have yet to disclose the exact timeline for when the site will be back online.
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