Prez to open National Cyber Security Operations Centre today

By Pranavesh Sivakumar

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake would be inaugurating the National Cyber Security Operations Centre this morning at BMICH, aimed at protecting and securing numerous government websites, an official from the Sri Lanka Cyber Emergency Readiness Team confirmed to Daily Mirror.  

The above launch would be of two-fold – opening this centre and presenting the Cyber Security Strategy to the President.  

The official said preceding this, they did not have an active mechanism to detect cyber threats affecting the system. From this launch onwards, protection and monitoring would be a 24x7 affair.  

“Right now, it is only a reactive measure – after the incident we investigate, we suggest recommendations. This is the main idea behind the security operations centre,” he explained.  

This launch was prompted after many sites were found with outdated technology, weak passwords and vulnerable to cyber-attacks.  

Last year alone, there were eight cases related to government website hacking, including document printing, meteorology site, the Education Ministry site and few other provincial-level sites.  

Explaining the causes, “They’re using very old technologies and vulnerabilities are large. They also have undergone a vulnerable assessment process recently.”