• CERT, CID, Cyber Crime Unit/Division probing including Govt. Printing Dept. hacking 

The Police claimed that foreign nationals engaged in crypto-currency scams are suspected of being behind the hacking of the Police Department official YouTube channel page after a cyber attack occurred on Monday (30 December 2024).

“We suspect that the perpetrators are foreign nationals who run crypto-currency scams,” Police Media Spokesperson, Senior Superintendent of Police K.B. Manathunga told The Daily Morning yesterday (31 December 2024). 

“The Police Cyber Crimes Unit/Computer Crime Investigation Division along with the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) is investigating this matter further,” he said.

Meanwhile, the CERT advised that all social media sites including YouTube, have a two factor authentication as well as a 12-digit password in order to secure themselves against hacking. “We also recommend not giving passwords carelessly,” CERT Senior Information Engineer Charuka Damunupola told The Daily Morning. “As for websites, including Government websites, we recommend that they do routine security checks in order to evade the risk of hacking,” he said.

This follows reports of the official website of the Sri Lanka Department of Government Printing being hacked and its data being altered. Accordingly, the CERT is presently investigating the incident together with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The Police reported that efforts are underway to restore access to their YouTube channel. 

Previously, in 2024, the Ministry of Education website was also hacked by an unidentified hacker. CERT urged website operators to follow the security guidelines stated by CERT in order to minimise the risk of hacking.