News
Game Over, Davy Jones: Most state websites hacked
View(s):By Nadia Fazlulhaq
The websites of the Board of Investment, the Nelum Pokuna Theatre and Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage were the latest to be hacked in a series of incidents of hacking of government and private websites in the recent weeks.
A hacker using the online nickname ‘Davy Jones’ claimed he had accessed the database and obtained details of more than 2,000 investors from the BOI site. Reports also said that data had been leaked from Minister Aluthgamage’s site.Lal Dias, Chief Executive Officer of Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) said they were aware of reports on hacking but no complaints had been made by the institutions yet.
“Our security specialists are working on it and if the sites are hacked, measures will be taken to restore them,” he said.
The week started with the hacking of Sri Lanka Ports Authority website by Davy Jones. In the Ports Authority site, the hacker did not deface the main page but added a webpage to the admin folder.
A hacker by the name ‘Game Over’ hacked the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) and defaced the website’s main page on January 17. The MCNS website could not be accessed even yesterday.
The Foreign Employment Bureau, Sri Lanka Customs, Rupavahini and One Sri Lanka television channel, Uva Provincial
The Foreign Employment Bureau, Sri Lanka Customs, Rupavahini, One Sri Lanka television channel and Uva Provincial Council websites are among others that were hacked recently. A cyber security expert said that despite the Government promoting the e-governance programme, the security aspect has been neglected.
“Anyone can develop a website and feed details, but securing it is the most important part, unfortunately this aspect has been neglected in Government sites. Hackers usually hack to obtain information or to show how vulnerable the site is,” he said.
Sabari Selvan of E Hacking News (EHN) that first reported the news of the hacking incidents, in an e-mail said the vulnerability existed when a developer failed to follow the proper security measures or did not care or was not aware of the security risks .
“The Government should be concerned about cyber security. I suggest governments to hire professional hackers to secure their sites, as they are aware of hacking techniques,” he said.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus