Kenya military Twitter account hacked

TOM ODULA
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Twitter account run by Kenya’s military was taken over by hackers claiming to be from the international activist collective Anonymous, a military spokesman said Monday

No internal military systems were infiltrated when the Kenya Defense Forces’ Twitter account was hacked early Monday, Col. Willy Wesonga said.

He said military technicians were trying to establish the identity of the people behind the cyberattack on the account, which is used to provide information to the public.

Another account run by a military liaison officer, Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir, was also hacked, he said.

“The #Kenya Ministry of Defence is under new management: #Anonymous,” a posting from the hacked military Twitter feed said. “Dear@policeKE catch me if you can:D, ” another post said, taunting the Kenya police to arrest those behind the hacking. Other postings pointed out problems the country is facing such as corruption and tribalism. One of the hacked tweets said Kenya needs a revolution of minds and attitude.

The hackers also posted an image of the Guy Fawkes mask that anarchists in the U.S. have worn when showing up to physical protests which has been associated with the group Anonymous.

Anonymous is a loosely affiliated global network of hackers that have attacked websites of countries and companies around the world to protest their actions.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up