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Infosecurity Magazine Home » News » Ransomware Attack Wipes Out Four Months of
Sri Lankan Government Data


RANSOMWARE ATTACK WIPES OUT FOUR MONTHS OF SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT DATA

News 11 Sep 2023


WRITTEN BY


KEVIN POIREAULT

Reporter, Infosecurity Magazine

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Investigations have begun into a massive ransomware attack that has affected Sri
Lanka’s government cloud system, Lanka Government Cloud (LGC).

The investigation is being conducted by the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency
Readiness Team and Coordination Center (CERT|CC). Sri Lanka’s Information and
Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) confirmed the attack to several local
news outlets on September 11, 2023.

The attack likely started on August 26, 2023, when a gov[dot]lk domain user said
they had received suspicious links over the past few weeks and that someone may
have clicked one.

LGC services and the backup systems were quickly encrypted. Mahesh Perera, CEO
at ICTA, estimated all 5000 email addresses using the “gov[dot]lk” email domain,
including those used by the Cabinet Office, were affected.

The system and the backup were restored within 12 hours of the attack.

However, since the system didn’t have any backup available for the data spanning
May 17 to August 26, 2023, all affected accounts have permanently lost data
covering this period.


CONCERNING SECURITY FAILINGS

Perera told the press that LGC was introduced in 2007 and first used Microsoft
Exchange Version 2003, but was updated to Microsoft Exchange Version 2013 in
2014.

“This was in use till the attack. But that version is now obsolete, outdated and
vulnerable to various types of attacks,” he said.

Although the Agency had planned to upgrade LGC to the latest version (currently
Exchange Server 2019 CU11 Oct21SU) from 2021, the decisions had been delayed due
to “fund limitations and certain previous board decisions.,” Perera added.

Following the attack, ICTA has started taking measures to enhance its security,
including initiating daily offline backup routines and upgrading the relevant
email application to the latest version.

The Sri Lanka CERT|CC is also helping ICTA to retrieve the lost data.

The Sri Lankan government had previously been criticized for failing to
efficiently promote serious cybersecurity measures within its public
administrations and its private sector.

The country ranks 83rd out of 175 countries in the Estonia-based e-Governance
Academy Foundation’s National Cyber Security Index.

The Sri Lankan government unveiled in June 2023 long-delayed cybersecurity
legislation – which will introduce its first-ever cybersecurity national
authority.




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