The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) says Government websites have not been hacked.
SLCERT Information Security Engineer Deena Dayalan told NewsWire, that reports claiming that the websites of the Presidential Secretariat, Foreign Ministry, Medical Research Institute, Survey Department, and several other websites have been hacked, are false.
He said no Government website has been compromised as claimed in the media reports, quoting an official from the Information Technology Society Sri Lanka.
The websites have been affected due to other websites conducting the search engine optimization update. Websites add metadata into the Google search engine in order for their websites to show up on Google.
However, it has been observed that certain websites are currently misusing metadata based on the google optimization feature to attract traffic by using popular Government site names from other countries as well, Dayalan explained.
The SLCERT Information Security Engineer said authorities have taken steps to address this issue, adding that this does not mean that the Government website has been hacked or compromised.
Meanwhile, sources from the President’s Media Division (PMD) said legal action will be taken against the Chairman of the Information Technology Society Sri Lanka for providing false information to the media.
The sources said the Chairman of the Information Technology Society Sri Lanka will be summoned before the Criminal Investigations Department to record a statement in this regard. (NewsWire)