Hackers steal $2.5m from Sri Lanka govt

COLOMBO, Mar 24: Cyber criminals hacked into the Sri Lankan finance ministry's computer system and siphoned off $2.5 million, the government said Thursday, the most amount of cash ever stolen by hackers from a state institution in the debt-saddled country.

The cyber attack is a major blow to Sri Lanka, which is recovering from a crippling economic crisis in 2022 after Colombo defaulted on its $46 billion external debt.

The money was destined as debt repayment to Australia, finance ministry secretary Harshana Suriyapperuma told reporters in the capital.

Four senior officers at the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) were suspended after the breach, he said.

Authorities were alerted to an attempt to break into the ministry's e-mail server, and investigations showed that a $2.5 million payment owed to Australia had disappeared.    �"AFP