Fighting cyber crime
31 August 2016
Two persons have been arrested so far in connection with the hacking of the President’s official website www.president.gov.lk. One is a 27-year-old man from Moratuwa while the second suspect is a teen (17-year-old) from Kadugannawa. The two hackers, apparently unhappy about the decision to hold the GCE A/L examination in April had posted the following message in Sinhala and English on the President’s official website: “Dear Mr. President, We are extremely displeased about the decision to hold GCE A/L in April since the Sinhala/Hindu New Year falls in between the exam dates. Therefore, reconsider that decision. Furthermore, take care of the security of Sri Lankan websites. Or else, we will have to face a cyber war.” They had also deleted some data from the websites.
Whatever their concerns, hacking the President’s website is a serious offence. In fact, hacking any duly registered website is a punishable offence. The Police must probe whether these two persons acted separately or in unison and if so, whether they had a support network of hackers. The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and its Cyber Crimes Unit deserve plaudits for their quick detective work which resulted in two arrests within two days. Hackers arrested under the Computer Crimes laws passed in 2007 face three years in jail and/or a fine of up to Rs.300,000 though the Kadugannawa boy being a minor may end up in probation if found guilty.
This is not the first time that websites in Sri Lanka had been hacked, but this is the most high-profile website ever hacked here. A few months ago, the Commercial Bank of Ceylon released a statement admitting that a “hacking attack” on its website resulted in a successful intrusion - however, it maintained that no customer data has been compromised. The bank claimed to have successfully defended itself and said its systems have been fully restored. In another well-known hacking attack that involved Sri Lanka, hackers stole US$ 100 million from the Bangladesh Bank’s (BB) foreign currency account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Almost the entire amount was transferred online to the Philippines banking system and a small portion of it to Sri Lanka by suspected Chinese hackers on February 5 this year. Fortunately, a spelling mistake (Fundation for Foundation) in one of their bank transfer instructions helped save nearly US$ 900 million, as an eagle-eyed younger teller in a Sri Lankan bank noticed the error and notified the authorities.
Hacking a worldwide problem that is not all that easy to tackle. Those who hack or otherwise illegally intrude into websites are called cyber criminals. It is highly damaging to the world economy - hackers are costing consumers and companies between US$ 375 and US$ 575 billion, annually, according to a new study. They have hacked into the major e-commerce sites as well as Government sites. Online crime is estimated at 0.8 per cent of worldwide GDP, with developed countries losing more than countries in Latin American or Africa, according to the study published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and funded by cyber security firm McAfee. “We don’t catch most cyber criminals and we don’t catch the most successful ones,” says James Lewis, a CSIS senior fellow and co-author of the report. “That’s the heart of the problem. So far there is impunity for cyber criminals.”
That is one problem that the world has to solve. Catching cyber criminals is often difficult, but as our sleuths have shown, it can be done. Cyber crime being a relatively recent branch of crime, the laws vary from country to country and some countries are yet to respond to this threat. Moreover, hackers are also branching into new and different areas such as hacking into connected/smart cars and mobile phones. The authorities and regulators have to take these into account when responding to cyber crimes. Sri Lanka however has responded with a fairly robust set of laws against cyber crime and online financial crime (such as hacking attacks on ATMs which are on the rise). The country also has a few institutions that fight online crime including TechCERT, a division of the LK Domain Registry which has a hotline to report cyber crimes, phishing attacks, online identity theft and other online scams. Since its founding 10 years ago, it has solved several hacking and other forms of cyber crime.
As the world gets increasingly connected under the Internet of Things (IoT) initiative where more than 50 billion devices from light bulbs to cars will be connected to each other by 2020, hackers will try to exploit vulnerabilities in cyber defences to wreak havoc. With computers virtually controlling every aspect of our day-to-day life, this is a nightmare scenario. One glitch, one hacking attack can cripple entire nations. That is why eternal vigilance and impregnable cyber defences are needed to thwart the ulterior motives and designs of the worldwide hacking community. It is a battle that they should not be allowed to win.
Whatever their concerns, hacking the President’s website is a serious offence. In fact, hacking any duly registered website is a punishable offence. The Police must probe whether these two persons acted separately or in unison and if so, whether they had a support network of hackers. The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and its Cyber Crimes Unit deserve plaudits for their quick detective work which resulted in two arrests within two days. Hackers arrested under the Computer Crimes laws passed in 2007 face three years in jail and/or a fine of up to Rs.300,000 though the Kadugannawa boy being a minor may end up in probation if found guilty.
This is not the first time that websites in Sri Lanka had been hacked, but this is the most high-profile website ever hacked here. A few months ago, the Commercial Bank of Ceylon released a statement admitting that a “hacking attack” on its website resulted in a successful intrusion - however, it maintained that no customer data has been compromised. The bank claimed to have successfully defended itself and said its systems have been fully restored. In another well-known hacking attack that involved Sri Lanka, hackers stole US$ 100 million from the Bangladesh Bank’s (BB) foreign currency account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Almost the entire amount was transferred online to the Philippines banking system and a small portion of it to Sri Lanka by suspected Chinese hackers on February 5 this year. Fortunately, a spelling mistake (Fundation for Foundation) in one of their bank transfer instructions helped save nearly US$ 900 million, as an eagle-eyed younger teller in a Sri Lankan bank noticed the error and notified the authorities.
Hacking a worldwide problem that is not all that easy to tackle. Those who hack or otherwise illegally intrude into websites are called cyber criminals. It is highly damaging to the world economy - hackers are costing consumers and companies between US$ 375 and US$ 575 billion, annually, according to a new study. They have hacked into the major e-commerce sites as well as Government sites. Online crime is estimated at 0.8 per cent of worldwide GDP, with developed countries losing more than countries in Latin American or Africa, according to the study published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and funded by cyber security firm McAfee. “We don’t catch most cyber criminals and we don’t catch the most successful ones,” says James Lewis, a CSIS senior fellow and co-author of the report. “That’s the heart of the problem. So far there is impunity for cyber criminals.”
That is one problem that the world has to solve. Catching cyber criminals is often difficult, but as our sleuths have shown, it can be done. Cyber crime being a relatively recent branch of crime, the laws vary from country to country and some countries are yet to respond to this threat. Moreover, hackers are also branching into new and different areas such as hacking into connected/smart cars and mobile phones. The authorities and regulators have to take these into account when responding to cyber crimes. Sri Lanka however has responded with a fairly robust set of laws against cyber crime and online financial crime (such as hacking attacks on ATMs which are on the rise). The country also has a few institutions that fight online crime including TechCERT, a division of the LK Domain Registry which has a hotline to report cyber crimes, phishing attacks, online identity theft and other online scams. Since its founding 10 years ago, it has solved several hacking and other forms of cyber crime.
As the world gets increasingly connected under the Internet of Things (IoT) initiative where more than 50 billion devices from light bulbs to cars will be connected to each other by 2020, hackers will try to exploit vulnerabilities in cyber defences to wreak havoc. With computers virtually controlling every aspect of our day-to-day life, this is a nightmare scenario. One glitch, one hacking attack can cripple entire nations. That is why eternal vigilance and impregnable cyber defences are needed to thwart the ulterior motives and designs of the worldwide hacking community. It is a battle that they should not be allowed to win.
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