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title: Hackers shut down Rwandan government data centre - Developing Telecoms
description: A Rwandan data centre that hosts servers related to the country’s government has been brought offline by hackers.
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  ![Hackers shut down Rwandan government data centre](https://developingtelecoms.com/images/stories/Places/800x600/Kigali_600.jpg)  

 

A Rwandan data centre that hosts servers related to the country’s government has been brought offline by hackers.

The centre, which also hosted private sector servers, was left offline for hours by a cyber attack on 18th February which blocked it from receiving traffic. This resulted in the majority of government websites – including those of the President and the state army – going offline.

Local news outlet Taarifa noted that the same centre has been targeted previously, with a division of the international “hacktivist” group Anonymous launching attacks on several countries in 2016.

Known as the World Hacker Team, the group managed to breach the IT firm Broadband Systems Corporation, which provides video conferencing software to Rwanda’s government. Data including email accounts, passwords and phone numbers were obtained and posted publicly. Client information and internal emails were also compromised.

Africa’s comparatively less developed internet sector is vulnerable to cyber attacks, with security still fairly loose. Cyber attacks have been increasing, and while thus far the stakes have been somewhat lower than in more developed markets the issue is certainly in need of addressing.

 

 

   
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