Kenya, 3 August 2026 – Kenya has emerged as East Africa’s leading cybercrime hotspot, with international investigators warning that the country’s rapid digital expansion is being exploited by increasingly sophisticated criminal networks targeting mobile money users, telecommunications firms and critical infrastructure.
A new INTERPOL African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026 identifies Kenya as one of the region’s most vulnerable countries to cyberattacks, citing a sharp rise in mobile money fraud, phishing campaigns and ransomware attacks.
According to the report, Kenya recorded more than 46,786 Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks targeting telecommunications companies during the first half of 2025. Such attacks overwhelm online systems with massive volumes of internet traffic, disrupting services relied upon by millions of users.
“Kenya recorded more than 46,786 DDoS attacks in the first half of 2025 targeting telecoms,” the report states, adding that the country also featured among SOCRadar’s top phishing detections in September 2025.
INTERPOL says Kenya’s booming digital economy, particularly the widespread use of mobile money, has become an attractive target for cybercriminals, while security measures have struggled to keep pace with the rapidly evolving threat landscape.
The report also highlights findings by the Communications Authority of Kenya, which recorded hundreds of millions of attempted intrusions against government and ICT infrastructure between July and September 2025. Most of the attacks involved brute-force techniques and system exploitation aimed at breaching digital networks.
One of the most notable incidents occurred in July 2025, when hackers briefly compromised the official website of the Presidency, defacing the homepage with a message demanding a Bitcoin ransom reportedly worth about KSh 41 million.
Mobile money fraud has also escalated significantly. INTERPOL says SIM swap fraud increased by 327% during 2025, with more than 123,000 fraudulent SIM cards issued and an estimated US$3.8 million stolen from mobile wallets.
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