The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has dismissed claims that its systems were hacked and its database, which stores financial transactions, was compromised.
In a statement on Tuesday, May 20, the social scheme assured Kenyans that the core system, which hosts crucial data including members' information and financial records, was safe.
NSSF noted that its clarification was based on the preliminary findings of the ongoing investigations, which showed no evidence of compromised data belonging to members of the public.
"NSSF wishes to inform its members, stakeholders, and the general public of an attempted intrusion targeting its image storage system. We wish to assure our members that the core system, which stores member data and financial transactions, remains secure and safe," the Fund assured Kenyans.
It went on to add: "Based on the findings of our ongoing investigations, there is no evidence that any personal or financial member data has been compromised or extracted."
The clarification comes after reports emerged purporting that the Devman hacking group allegedly compromised the social scheme's systems and managed to access members' data.
HackManac, a cyber attacks analysis and consultancy firm, revealed the information on its X account, claiming that the Devman hacking group had taken over the entire NSSF systems.
According to the consultancy company, the Devman hackers allegedly breached Kenya's Security Fund and demanded Ksh579 million ($4.5 million) from the government.
The hackers claimed to have directly contacted the Kenyan authorities and issued a 24-hour ultimatum for the government to act; failure to which they would leak crucial data to the public.
"Devman hacking group claims to have breached the Kenya National Social Security Fund, and they are demanding $4.5 million. Allegedly, they managed to exfiltrate 2.5 TB of data," claimed HackManac.
The alleged breach of the NSSF systems has since sparked widespread reactions from Kenyans, with several people raising concerns over the potential exposure of data belonging to Kenyans.
In recent weeks, similar incidents have been reported across some African countries, including Morocco's National Social Security Agency and Egypt's National Social Insurance Authority.
