Kabarak University seeks Meta's help over hacked Facebook page
Kabarak University is seeking the help of the Carlifonia-based Facebook parent firm Meta in attempts to recover the institution’s hacked account.
The university’s official page account was hacked a week ago by cybercriminals, who have been using it to spread malicious and misleading images and information that are contrary to the Biblical Christian values of the institution.
University Vice- Chancellor Prof Henry Kiplagat, on Monday revealed that the institution has reached out to Facebook parent firm Meta to help retrieve the account.
Prof Kiplagat, while revealing that the university is yet to recover the account, denied that the institution has created a new account after the hacking.
“I want to make it clear that Kabarak University has not created any new account. Any account created in the name of Kabarak University is a pseudo account by cybercriminals aimed at tainting the name of the institution,” Prof Kiplagat told the Nation on phone.
“We have reached out to Facebook in an effort to recover the university’s account.We've forwarded this case to the concerned authorities and the action will be taken,” he further revealed without giving details.
The giant firm Meta has business operations in Kenya, but it doesn’t have a physical office, as its local employees work remotely.
The company owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, among other products and services.
Two days ago the hacker changed the profile photo and started posting unexplained words and photos.
On Saturday the hacker posted a cryptic message on the page which has 46,000 followers.
"Hello everyone here I just want to clarify about this account that was hacked, to be honest, I was just having fun so don't take the posts I publish seriously, once again I'm sorry," he said.
Reclaim account
Hours later he warned that he would not return the Kabarak University's account.
"I will not return this account, but I challenge all of you to reclaim this account immediately. Regards a student from one of Jakarta's IT-based high schools," he added.
However, the universithas been calling for patience as it tries to reclaim the page.
In a statement, the Nakuru-based university has disowned the posts saying cybercriminals had invaded their Facebook page.
The varsity also disassociated themselves from the posts saying Kabarak remains a Christian university.
"We regret to inform the public that our official Facebook page has been compromised by a group of cybercriminals. As a result, the criminals are using it to spread malicious and misleading images and information contrary to the biblical Christian values of Kabarak University. We want to assure our stakeholders and the general public that we are taking all necessary measures to regain control of our page," read the statement.
"We urge our followers and prospective students to disregard information posted by these criminals and to contact us directly through our official website or other verified channels,”further stated the statement by the university management.
The hacked Facebook account is verified and has 46,000 followers and 36,000 likes.
The former President Daniel arap Moi family-owned institution was established in 2000 by its founding chancellor the late President Moi who was also Kenya’s second president.
The university was granted a Letter of Interim in October 2000 and later opened doors for its first batch of students in 2002.
On May 16, 2008 the University was awarded the Charter by the third President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki, making it a fully-fledged accredited University.
In July 2020, the university installed Kanu chairman Gideon Moi as its second Chancellor after his late father. BY DAILY NATION
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