Kenyan online services are the target of multiple DDoS attacks by Anonymous Sudan.
Anonymous Sudan, a collective of hackers, has taken responsibility for a series of Distributed-Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on critical online services in Kenya. These cyberattacks have impacted government agencies, newspapers, and other entities. While some of these attacks date back a few days, more recent ones have been promised to occur.
An investigation by Technext, which involved joining the group's Telegram channel, revealed that the motive behind these attacks is linked to the ongoing tensions between Kenya and Sudan. Concerned about Sudan's 100+ days of conflict, Kenyan President William Ruto recently proposed that East African troops provide peacekeeping support.
Yasirr al-Atta, angered by what seemed to be a genuine gesture, threatened to eliminate the troops if they were deployed and declared foreign troops as enemy forces regardless of their mission. The General also accused Kenya of siding with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the conflict, which is a paramilitary army. Kenya, however, refuted the accusation and reaffirmed its neutral stance on the matter, as stated by its Cabinet Secretary of foreign affairs, Korir Sing’Oei.
Anonymous Sudan's Telegram page revealed that the group targeted numerous institutions in its wave of attacks. One of the victims was eCitizen, a portal providing essential services to Kenyan citizens such as driving license renewal and visa applications. Due to its importance to the average Kenyan, the extended downtime of eCitizen resulted in public frustration and complaints.
Anonymous Sudan took pride in its work and flooded its channel with screenshots of Kenyan citizens expressing their inability to access eCitizen. The group also targeted The Standard, a popular Kenyan newspaper, a few days ago, claiming the attack lasted for 10 hours. Surprisingly, Anonymous Sudan reported encountering little resistance in launching the cyber offensive and even urged Kenya to improve its defenses. In the past, another group called the Mysterious Team conducted a similar DDoS attack on Senegal in May.
Anonymous Sudan has claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on countries like Israel, the UAE, France, Australia, and Microsoft. Some analysts link it to Killnet, a Russian hacker group. The attacks highlight the need for cybersecurity readiness in Kenya and Africa, as the growing technology-world bond increases the risk of cyber attacks destabilizing targets. African nations must adopt modern cybersecurity practices and update outdated systems to ensure their sovereignty and security in the digital age.
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