Earlier this week, both Google Uganda and Google Morocco were redirecting traffic to different sites.
"Google was not hacked, the problem occurred at the DNS level where someone redirected the Internet Protocol to other sites. We contacted the registry managers in Uganda and Morocco about the DNS attack," said Jay Nancarrow, Google Global Communications Public Affairs officer.
"Yes, someone got hold of the DNS and interrupted service by redirecting [the] Google Web site and a few other Web sites," said Charles Musisi, managing director of Computer Frontiers, the operators of the .ug domain registry.
Google services in Kenya were also temporarily disrupted, though Nancarrow said the cause of disruption is yet to be identified.
The Google interruption has led to debate about whether Internet service providers and registry operators were monitoring the security threats posed by hackers and other malicious attackers.
"Issues of DNS cache poisoning are common in East Africa. ISPs do not take security seriously, which makes it easier for malicious hackers," said Tyrus Kamau, a network security consultant.
John Gichuki, a security expert who has helped set up security safeguards for companies in East Africa, says that the level of security depends on the security policies set by the information security department in an organization.
"ISPs should have security assessments done; physical and operational security; they should be in a position to monitor traffic going through their routers and servers," said Gichuki.