Nairobi — President William Ruto's official website has been restored after a cyberattack forced the government to temporarily take the platform offline, ending nearly a day of disruption that raised concerns over the security of Kenya's digital infrastructure.
The president.go.ke domain was once again fully accessible, with its homepage, presidential speeches, press releases, policy updates and official communications restored after emergency response teams worked to contain the breach.
The website was compromised on Saturday when hackers took control of the homepage, replacing official content with messages targeting President Ruto and demanding a ransom of five Bitcoins worth about Sh41 million in exchange for relinquishing control and withholding the release of what they claimed was sensitive information.
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In response, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy immediately restricted public access to the website to facilitate containment, forensic investigations and restoration.
ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo said the shutdown was a precautionary measure and maintained that the attack did not compromise sensitive government information.
"As a precautionary measure, access to the Presidential website was temporarily restricted to facilitate containment, forensic analysis and restoration efforts," Kabogo said in a statement.
He added that there was no evidence of unauthorised access to sensitive data, data exfiltration or loss of information, insisting that government digital systems and online services remained secure throughout the incident.
Although the platform has now been restored, authorities have not disclosed how the attackers gained access or whether investigations into the breach have been concluded. Officials have also remained silent on whether the ransom demand was considered or if any further attempts were made to infiltrate government systems.
The Presidency's website serves as the government's primary online communication platform, publishing the President's official engagements, speeches, executive directives, Cabinet updates and other state communications.
The latest breach has renewed scrutiny over the resilience of Kenya's cybersecurity systems, coming less than a year after another wave of cyberattacks targeted several government websites, disrupting access to online services and exposing vulnerabilities in public digital infrastructure.
