Kenyan presidential website hacked for ransom, demanding 5 BTC; the official urgently clarifies that no data was leaked

Kenya’s national cybersecurity perimeter is once again facing a severe test. According to Bitcoin.com, on July 18 the official website of Kenyan President William Ruto was hit by a cyberattack, with hackers temporarily taking the site offline and demanding a ransom of 5 BTC (Bitcoin). The Kenyan government has urgently initiated its response protocol and has stated publicly that there is currently no evidence indicating that any sensitive data has been leaked.
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• Ransom of 5 bitcoins, threats to publicize confidential information
• Authorities urgently block access, clarify that the system is still secure
• National infrastructure frequently targeted, facing threats in the billions

National-level critical infrastructure has once again become a target for hackers. On July 19, 2026, Beijing time, according to Bitcoin.com, the official website of Kenyan President William Ruto (president.go.ke) suffered a blatant cyberattack over the weekend, prompting the country to raise heightened alert on digital security.

Ransom 5 bitcoins, threaten to disclose confidential information

The incident occurred on July 18 (Saturday). The hackers managed to breach the system and replace the president’s website’s normal content, directly posting disparaging and insulting messages targeting President Ruto on the homepage. Even more brazenly, the hackers issued a deadline demanding that the Kenyan government pay a ransom of 5 bitcoins (BTC) by that evening, or they would leak unspecified confidential information.

In the face of a major provocation in which the leader’s website was hacked, Kenya’s response was swift. In a statement, Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo of the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Digital Economy confirmed that Kenya’s ICT Authority had launched its cybersecurity response protocol immediately, temporarily restricting public access to the site to enable a professional team to conduct a comprehensive evidence-gathering investigation.

Authorities urgently block access, clarify that the system is still secure

To calm public panic and concerns from outside, Kabogo later issued a statement on the social platform X (formerly Twitter), emphasizing: “There is currently no evidence showing that sensitive data was accessed without authorization, leaked, or lost. Government systems and digital services remain safe and operating normally.”

At present, the technical team at Kenya’s State House is working closely with the National Coordination Committee for Computer and Cybercrime (NC4) and external technical partners to urgently repair the systems and restore website operations, while also trying to identify the critical vulnerability in the security perimeter. As of the time of publication, the website remains offline.

National infrastructure frequently targeted, facing threats in the billions

In fact, this is the second time Kenya, within just a single year, has faced cyberattacks targeting major national infrastructure. Looking back to November 2025, the country also previously suffered a serious incident involving coordinated attacks against multiple government ministry websites.

The worsening cybersecurity environment has become a thorny challenge for Kenya’s government. According to a report released by NC4 earlier this year, Kenya’s critical infrastructure has suffered as many as several billion cyber threats in just three months. This bitcoin ransom case once again highlights the urgency for the country to accelerate the standardization of national cybercrime investigation procedures and to upgrade its cybersecurity defense layers.