At least 19 organisations in Kenya have been affected by the ransomware virus in an ongoing global hacking attack, Communication Authority of Kenya has said.
Without naming the affected entities, CA said the number affected by the 'WannaCryptor' virus had increased from the five firms .
"The virus has affected over half a million users globally. There is anxiety amid today’s deadline issued by the hackers," Xinhua reported.
"The authority will continue working with stakeholders to mitigate the effects of such instances while encouraging parties to put in place preventive mechanisms," director general Francis Wangusi said on Monday.
ICT CS Joe Mucheru had said Kenyan banks are among the targeted institutions.
The software encrypts systems and denies owners access to them. Xinhua reported the virus has affected more than half a million people worldwide.
The perpetrators demand a $300 payment in Bitcoin currencies for users to be allowed access.
"Individuals and organisations are discouraged from paying the ransom, as this does not guarantee access will be restored," Wangusi said.
The authority formed the National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team (National KE-CIRT) to help coordinate the fight the virus.
CA said the team was working with other government agencies, banks, telcos, academia and IT experts to enhance Kenya’s cyber security.
Almost 80 per cent of Kenya’s servers run on the Windows operating system, another 16 per cent on Unix or the Linux variant.
Industry experts noted that more companies are likely to be targeted before the deadline elapses.
'WannaCry' has exposed the susceptibility of computers across the globe with Kenyan experts asking firms to backup data in flash drives and cloud computers.
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