NAIROBI, Kenya July 27 – The government has successfully restored the e-Citizen platform following a cyberattack that disrupted its operations.
The Ministry of Interior confirmed on Thursday that the platform, which offers over 5,000 services, was now fully operational.
The service on the portal had been unavailable since July 23, 2023.
“We wish to notify the general public that services through the e-Citizen
platform (ecitizen.go.ke) has resumed,” read in part the statement.
The Ministry’s statement revealed that the brief disruption resulted from an attempted cyberattack on the platform, utilizing a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) technique.
It involved overwhelming the target system with an enormous volume of traffic from multiple sources simultaneously.
The statement added that as a result of the hack, “the platform was overloaded and rendered unavailable to genuine users thereby causing interference of the services.”
The government maintains that no data was compromised or lost during the incident that saw several companies affected.
ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo had earlier also confirmed that the platform had suffered a cyberattack, disrupting its operations.
Owalo disclosed that the hackers, known as “Anonymous Sudan,” were responsible for the attack.
With over 5,000 government services from various ministries, county governments, and agencies, the eCitizen platform serves as a comprehensive one-stop shop.
The primary objective of the platform is to simplify and digitize government services, ensuring greater accessibility and convenience for users.
Utilizing technology, the eCitizen platform strives to improve efficiency, transparency, and user experience when interacting with government services, ultimately benefiting the people of Kenya.
