Silent Sabotage: Anonymous Sudan Targets Kenyan Govt Websites
If you are reading this, you have likely heard of Anonymous Sudan, a hacker group that has wreaked havoc on major websites in Kenya this week, shutting down major services including the E-Citizen platform, which houses more than 5,000 services.
In addition to E-Citizen, the group has targeted other government agencies, private businesses, and media entities.
While neither the government nor the affected companies have commented on Anonymous Sudan’s allegations, system disruptions affecting banks and mobile money services have caused concern.
Kenyans do not yet know the extent of the attacks, but the group has made it clear that they will continue until Kenya stops interfering in the ongoing civil conflict for control of Sudan.
Who is Anonymous Sudan
Anonymous is a global, decentralized hacking organization that targets governments and other institutions, such as corporations, to promote various causes. It was founded in 2003 to represent online and offline activist organizations.
Since then, numerous offshoots have pledged allegiance to the global objective. Anonymous Sudan’s origins are unclear, but the group has been attributed to the pro-Russian cybercriminal organization Killnet.
The group targeted Western and anti-Russian nations and utilized the influence of Killnet to expand its base.
Past Assaults
In recent years, Anonymous Sudan has also conducted cyberattacks against other nations and businesses. The group has attacked targets in Sweden, the United States, France, Australia, and Israel.
Scandinavia
Under the hashtags #OpSweden and #OpDenmark, the group attacked Swedish entities in January 2023, including government websites belonging to Sweden, Netherlands, and Denmark.
The assaults were a response to Danish-Swedish politician Rasmas Paludan, who had organized an anti-Islam protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Sweden on January 22, 2023, during which he burned a copy of the Quran.
After the incident, online rumors circulated that the group intended to hinder Sweden’s quest to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
France
In March 2023, the organization claimed to have stolen data from Air France, the national carrier. Additionally, the group claimed it would sell the data for Ksh426 million.
Air France denied the reports and stated it was investigating the claim. Additionally, the airline emphasized that it was protecting consumer data.
The hackers wrote on the Telegram channel, “We will continue to punish you and your company continuously as we have for the past 120 hours.”
Australia
From March 24, 2023, to April 2, 2023, the group carried out a series of attacks on Australian companies, including healthcare, aviation, and education institutions, in response to a Melbourne fashion label’s use of the Arabic word for “God” on its garments.
Israel
Anonymous Sudan shifted their focus to Israel on Israel’s Independence Day, April 26, 2023, and claimed to have attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s website and Facebook account.
Multiple reports have also linked the group to attacks on the websites of the Haifa Port, Israel Ports Development, the National Insurance Institute, and Mossad, the Israeli national intelligence agency.
On May 2, 2023, they also claimed credit for temporarily disabling Israel’s missile defense system, although the Israeli government has not corroborated this. According to reports, the cyberattack enabled 16 rockets to infiltrate Israeli territory with a 71% success rate.
UAE
The group distributed screenshots of eight United Arab Emirates (UAE)-affiliated websites on May 5, 2023. They targeted the websites and applications of Abu Dhabi Bank shortly thereafter.
USA
Microsoft, an American multinational technology corporation, disclosed in June 2023 that a cyberattack brought down its Outlook email service. The outage affected more than 18,000 users.
In recent weeks, the group has claimed responsibility for assaults on Reddit, an American social news aggregator, and Archive of Our Own, a noncommercial platform.
In protest of the West’s financial and military support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, the group also claimed credit for an attack on the US’s SWIFT payment system in collaboration with KillNet.
However, international cybersecurity experts assert that the origin of the group can be traced to Russia and not Sudan. However, the claims have not been verified.
Unknown Conflict with Kenya
The recent assaults, according to Anonymous Sudan’s Telegram channel, were caused by the Kenyan government’s alleged interference in Sudan’s affairs.
The attacks occurred days after General Yasser Al-Atta of the Sudan Armed Forces accused President William Ruto of funding their adversary, Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in a conflict for the control of Sudan.
In a video that went viral, the general dared Ruto to start a conflict. A succession of website outages and service interruptions ensued.
Who Supports the Group?
In what appears to be an escalation of the conflict between Kenya and one of the belligerent factions, the group appears to have the support of certain Sudanese figures.
However, it is difficult to determine whether Al-Atta is funding the organization. Their attacks will inevitably cause millions of Kenyans financial losses and inconveniences.
Silent Sabotage: Anonymous Sudan Targets Kenyan Govt Websites
