NAIROBI, Kenya – President William Ruto’s official website has been hacked, with cybercriminals replacing the homepage with a message demanding payment in Bitcoin and threatening to release unspecified information if their demands are not met.
A spot check by Y News on Saturday, July 18, found that the official homepage of president.go.ke had been defaced, with its normal government content replaced by messages targeting the Head of State.
The hackers posted a cryptocurrency wallet address and demanded a payment of five Bitcoins, warning that they would allegedly leak undisclosed information if the ransom was not paid by the stated deadline.
Part of the message read: “This message is the third time for you; before we leak everything about you. Do a payment of 5 bitcoins to the Bitcoin wallet if you want peace before 6 o’clock this evening.”
The authenticity of the hackers’ claims about possessing any sensitive information could not be independently verified.
In a statement, State House confirmed it was aware of the cyberattack and said its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) team had already begun efforts to resolve the incident.
“We are aware of the issue, and our ICT team is handling it,” State House said.
The breach comes amid growing concerns over cybersecurity threats targeting government digital infrastructure, with authorities expected to investigate how the attackers gained access to the presidential website.