'Gov't systems, services secure!' CS Kabogo reassures after State House website hacked

The government has sought to allay fears over the recent breach of the official State House website, saying no sensitive government data or digital services were compromised during the cyber incident.

In a statement on Saturday, Information, Communications and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo said the ICT Authority activated its cybersecurity incident response protocols immediately after detecting the breach affecting the official website of the President.

Kabogo said access to the website was temporarily restricted to allow investigators to contain the incident, conduct forensic analysis and begin restoration works.

"Upon detection of the incident, the ICT Authority immediately activated established cybersecurity incident response protocols. As a precautionary measure, access to the Presidential website was temporarily restricted to facilitate containment, forensic analysis and restoration efforts," Kabogo stated.

According to the CS, mitigation measures have already been put in place and efforts to restore the website are ongoing.

He maintained that preliminary findings show there is no evidence of unauthorised access to sensitive information, data exfiltration or loss of government data, further assuring the public that government systems and digital services remain secure and fully operational despite the incident.

"At this time, there is no evidence of unauthorised access to sensitive data, data exfiltration, or loss of information. Government systems and digital services remain secure and operational," he noted.

CS Kabogo underscored that the Authority is working with relevant government agencies and technical partners to establish the circumstances surrounding the breach through a comprehensive forensic investigation.

The clarification comes hours after the official presidential website was defaced by hackers, who replaced official content with messages targeting President William Ruto and demanded a ransom in Bitcoin.

State House had not commented on the incident before the ICT Ministry issued its statement.