The eCitizen platform, a government portal that provides citizens with access to a variety of services, has been down for the fourth day after a cyber attack.
The attack was confirmed by Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and the Digital Economy Eliud Owalo, who said that the government is “addressing the situation.”
“There was an attack and we’re addressing that,” Owalo said in an interview with Spice FM. “We’re not just coming up with instant remedial measures to address the current situation, we’re ensuring that around this digitalization space, we will build an elaborate risk mitigation framework for the purpose of sustainable digitalization.”
The cyber attack comes just weeks after President William Ruto launched the newly revamped eCitizen portal. The platform was designed to host over 5,000 government services, with the number set to increase by the end of the year.
Details about the hackers who gained access to the eCitizen website are still unclear, although reports suggest it could be a group of Sudanese hackers. The group has confirmed this in messages shared on several Telegram channels.
Owalo says that despite the attack, the hackers have not been able to access any citizen’s data.
“No data has been lost, no data has been accessed,” he said.
The government is still investigating the attack, and it is not clear when the eCitizen platform will be back up and running.
