Sri Lankan teen arrested after hacking president's website to postpone exam

The teenager posted a message calling for the postponement of A-level examinations


Afp August 29, 2016
Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena. PHOTO: REUTERS

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's police Monday arrested a 17-year-old teenager for hacking into President Maithripala Sirisena's official website and posting a message calling for the postponement of A-level examinations.

The unnamed boy was taken into custody under the Computer Crimes Act and on conviction faces a fine of 300,000 rupees ($2,000) and up to three years in jail.

Over 900m Android phones at risk of being hacked

"We traced the hack to his home in Kadugannawa," a police official said referring to a town about 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of the capital Colombo. "The website was crippled over the weekend after the attack." On Monday, the president's official site was up and running again.

This KickassTorrent mirror might steal your credit card details

The attacker had removed the home page of the website and replaced it with a demand that the President postpone the ongoing GCE Advanced Level examinations or step down.

Sri Lankan websites had been hacked in the past, but this was the first time that a teenager had been arrested under the Computer Crimes Act of 2007.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ