Mogadishu, Somalia — The US Embassy in Mogadishu said it is “aware” of reports claiming that Somalia’s e-visa system has been hacked, but noted it cannot yet confirm whether personal data belonging to American citizens was compromised.
In a statement, the embassy said it was monitoring the situation closely following reports that hackers may have accessed sensitive personal information from the Somali government’s online visa platform. The mission urged all US nationals who recently applied for Somali visas to exercise caution and safeguard their personal information.
“It is possible that personal information could be misused. We advise individuals who applied for the Somali e-visa to regularly monitor their email and other online accounts,” the embassy said.
According to preliminary reports, the breach allegedly exposed data belonging to more than 35,000 individuals, including names, photographs, dates and places of birth, email addresses and other personal details. The scale of the breach could not be independently verified.
Somali authorities have not commented publicly on the incident. However, cybersecurity analysts have called for an immediate investigation to determine the origin and scope of the alleged attack.
The incident has raised fresh concerns about the security of government digital systems in Somalia, with observers warning that stronger data-protection measures are needed to safeguard both citizens and foreign visitors.
No group has claimed responsibility for the reported breach.
