KRA denies reports that its systems were h****d, Ksh21B stolen
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has denied reports that its systems were hacked and Ksh21 billion stolen.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, the taxman termed the reports as false and unfounded.
"Reports of our systems being hacked and revenue stolen have been brought to our attention. We would like to inform the public that these reports are completely false and unfounded. Avoid misinformation by relying on our official channels for credible and accurate updates," KRA said.
Initially, there were social media reports that KRA systems were hacked by a fourth-year student at the University of Nairobi, who managed to steal Ksh21 billion.
The reports, now confirmed by KRA to be false, indicated that the 23-year-old student conspired with three others to infiltrate KRA systems.
The reports come days after several government websites experienced cyberattacks, including the popular e-citizen website which offers government services to Kenyans.
The attack was confirmed by Information, Communication and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary(CS) Eliud Owalo.
“There was an attack. We are addressing that, we are not just coming up with instant remedial measures to address the current situation, we will build an elaborate risk mitigation framework. To me that was not strange because cyber-attacks are predominant world over,” he noted.
Owalo noted that no data has been accessed by the hackers and so far no files on the eCitizen platform that offers over 5,000 government services from ministries, county governments and agencies have been lost.
He explained that the hackers slowed down the sites but after learning about it they managed to secure the platform.
“They tried jamming the system by making more than ordinary requests into the system. It started by slowing down the system and we addressed it,” he said.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the hacking incident, or the website disruptions.
