ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Public Security became the victim of a cyberattack that caused embarrassment, although it did not appear to compromise the website or its data.
Internet users were met with a rude shock when searching for the ministry’s website on Google. The description for the “Secretary” page featured a string of pornographic expletives, and the link redirected users to a page that was not publicly accessible on the ministry’s website.
An IT specialist said the malicious attack may have been carried out by someone with access to the www.pubsec.gov.lk website. The hacker also appeared to have exploited vulnerabilities in a piece of software used to improve the site’s visibility on Google.
“The Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) software on the Public Security Ministry website is four versions behind the latest. This shows the site has not been updating its plugins,” the specialist said.
He explained that the SEO software directed google to display information under ‘Secretary’ taken from an alternative page to that people see when they visit the website itself.
On this page —identified as page_id=195 — the attacker had inserted the offensive content. The legitimate “Secretary” page is located under a different identifier: page_id=2110.
“This is an interesting method of attacking a website. The site itself seems unaffected, but Google displays malicious content. It appears to have been done to embarrass the ministry and highlight its security weaknesses,” the specialist said.
“The site is running on WordPress with the Yoast SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) plugin… except it’s still using version 20.9, which is ancient in internet terms—Yoast is currently up to version 24.9.”
“This little embarrassment could be the work of a hacker having some fun, an insider getting a bit too creative with metadata, or someone with a grudge and access to admin privileges.”
In any case, the incident is a reminder that SEO hygiene is just as important as cybersecurity—especially for a government ministry, the specialist said. “It’s time to update those plugins and politely ask Google to forget what it saw.” (COLOMBO/Apr24/2025)
