The Liberia Internet Governance Forum (Liberia IGF) reported on Tuesday evening the outage of major websites, including the leading government website emansion (www.emansion.gov.lr ), along with all .lr domains, thereby shutting down throughout the entire day.
This unexpected outage caused significant disruption to government and public services, raising serious concerns about the security and stability of the country’s digital infrastructure.
The Liberia IGF is calling on the government to urgently investigate the regulatory process surrounding Liberia’s critical domain resources.
This incident underscores the need for a comprehensive review and reinforcement of the management and security protocols governing the .lr country code top-level domain (ccTLD).
Peterking Quaye, the Coordinator of the Liberia IGF, emphasized, “The outage suggested that the .lr domain may be under some level of attack.”
“It is crucial that both the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) take immediate and decisive action to address these vulnerabilities. Ensuring the integrity and reliability of national digital infrastructure is paramount to maintaining public trust and service continuity,” Quaye recommended.
The Liberia IGF strongly recommends immediate Investigation; a thorough investigation into the cause of the outage to identify whether it is due to technical failures or malicious attacks; enhanced security measures: implementation of robust security measures to protect the .lr domain from future attacks; regulatory review a comprehensive review of the regulatory framework governing the .lr domain to ensure it meets international standards and best practices; public communication: regular updates to the public regarding the status of the investigation and steps being taken to restore and secure the affected services.
The Liberia IGF is committed to supporting these efforts and working collaboratively with all stakeholders to safeguard our national digital resources adding, “We urge the government to prioritize this issue and take immediate action to prevent further disruptions.”
The Liberia IGF is a multi-stakeholder platform that brings together representatives from government, civil society, private sector, and academia to discuss and collaborate on issues related to internet governance and digital policy in Liberia.
