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A pro-Russian hacktivist group called Anonymous Sudan has claimed responsibility for a series of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks on websites of Kenyan media, hospitals, universities, and businesses, including Safaricom.
DDoS attacks are cyberattacks where the attacker overwhelms a website, online service, or connected device with excessive internet traffic, making it impossible for regular users to access the targeted platform.
Media websites including The Standard Group, and Kenya News Agency were attacked. On Monday, 10 university websites, including the University of Nairobi, experienced attacks while on Tuesday, the focus shifted to seven hospitals and Kenya’s transport agency’s website.
Additionally, the eCitizen platform—a platform that provides Kenyans with access to a wide range of government services online—also faced an attack. The Kenyan government is now granting visas on arrival to travellers due to the current unavailability of the eCitizen online application portal, but Eliud Owalo, the cabinet secretary overseeing the ministry of information, communication, and the digital economy, assured that no data was compromised or lost during the incident.
Furthermore, Safaricom’s M-Pesa service and Kenya Power, the national utility company were also targeted.
Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has been experiencing internal conflict between its military factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and there have been disputes and power struggles within the Sudanese government.
The group attacked Kenya because the country “released statements doubting the sovereignty of [the Sudanese] government.” Additionally, the Sudanese government rejected the appointment of Kenya’s president, William Ruto, as leader of a mediation group, accusing Kenya of lacking neutrality in the Sudanese conflict.
A report on Twitter shows the group is demanding an official apology from the Kenyan government or a ransom payment of $200,000 worth of Bitcoin to cease their attacks.
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