A 17-year-old youth has been arrested from Kadugannawa area on the allegation of hacking the official website of President Maithripala Sirisena.
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.
Hackers tampered with President Sirisena’s official website www.president.gov.lk on two consecutive days.
The message, which was posted under the name “The Sri Lankan Youth” made several demands to the government, including a call to reconsider the decision to hold the GCE A/Level examination in April instead of August.
While the website came back online a few hours later, the subsequent attack on Friday resulted in officials having to take down the site for a much longer period.
The crime is being probed by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) detectives specializing in cybercrime after an official complaint was lodged.
(With inputs from Deccan Chronicle)
