Kabogo: No sensitive data accessed after President's website hack
National
By
David Njaaga
| Jul 18, 2026
The government has confirmed hackers took over the President's official website on Saturday, defacing its homepage and demanding a Sh41.3 million ransom.
The attackers, who demanded five bitcoins, threatened to leak unspecified information if the payment was not made by 6 p.m.
Visitors to president.go.ke were met with a message reading, "This message is the third time for you before we leak everything about you," and demanding payment "if you want peace before 6 o'clock this evening," said the defaced page.
The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy confirmed the breach in a statement, saying the ICT Authority activated established incident response protocols immediately after detecting the intrusion.
"There is no evidence of unauthorised access to sensitive data," noted Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo.
READ MORE
KRA now blocks payments to tax-dodging State contractors
Why customers are taking their money where they feel valued
Meru leads race to open first county industrial park
New strategy to monetise African demographic explosion
Inflation jumps to 6.6pc as cost-of-living crisis deepens ahead of 2027 polls
How US state-level pacts seek to unlock US-Kenya trade
Project managers face pressure to build business, leadership skills
Fintech surpasses Sh20b in cross-border transfers as demand for faster digital payments surges
How Nairobi boda boda riders are using collective savings to build businesses
Why State wants union characterised by gross mismanagement liquidated
Officials temporarily restricted access to the website as a precaution, allowing technical teams to contain the breach, carry out forensic analysis and begin restoration work, according to the ministry.
The ministry did not disclose when the incident occurred or provide details on the nature of the attack.
By the time of publication, visitors to the site were greeted with a maintenance message stating the site would return shortly.
Saturday's breach is not the first to hit government infrastructure.
In November 2025, government agencies suffered a coordinated attack in which a Sudanese hacker group later claimed responsibility, saying it had taken down several Kenyan websites, including e-Citizen, to protest alleged Kenyan interference in Sudan's affairs.
The November attack also hit the presidency's website along with those of the ministries of Interior, Energy, Labour, Health and Education, and was blamed on a group calling itself PCP@Kenya, according to Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo.
Some of the defaced pages in that attack displayed neo-Nazi and white supremacist propaganda, raising concerns beyond a typical cyberattack.