Sarvajana Balaya MP Dilith Jayaweera voiced concern about Sri Lanka’s global standing, following the reported hacking incident involving the Treasury which may have cost the taxpayer $ 2.5 million, according to initial assessments. 

The Opposition MP strongly criticised the handling of the alleged Treasury fraud involving the transfer of $ 2.5 million, arguing that the incident should not be described as a ‘hacker attack,’ noting that it instead bore the hallmarks of a Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam involving human involvement.

Speaking to the media, Jayaweera said the term ‘hackers’ was being misused in relation to the case.

“Do not insult hackers. This is not the work of hackers. Hackers are a different category altogether. They may be ethical hackers or white hat, black hat, or grey hat hackers. This does not belong to any of those categories,” he said.

He alleged that the matter was being mischaracterised and questioned claims that a cyberattack had taken place.

Jayaweera said that the incident appeared to be a classic case of BEC, in which a fraudster impersonates a legitimate party using a slightly altered email address or identity to manipulate financial transactions.