Sri Lanka had $2.5 million purloined from its coffers owing to a cyber attack targeting the Finance Ministry's payment system, according to reports on Thursday.
The hackers were able to bypass security and access the Sri Lankan government's treasury funds via an email, with the authorities becoming aware of these hacking attempts in January 2026, according to Secretary to the Finance Ministry Harshana Suriyapperuma.
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The amount was stolen from a $22.9 million payment that Sri Lanka was to credit to Australia, with $2.5 million having been sent to the latter between December 2025 and Jan. 31, 2026.
He stated that the government detected the hackers trying to gain access to the External Resources Department's system in January. He then stated that the "issue was resolved" and that they collaborated with the related foreign countries to make sure that "no harm" would befall countries owed payments by Sri Lanka.
Authorities have organised a "high-powered committee" to look into the matter and gauge the extent of the financial loss resulting from the attack.
The Sri Lankan government confirmed the attack after opposition drew attention to it, stating that $2.5 million worth of treasury funds were redirected to a hacker's bank account in lieu of reaching the desired creditor.
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Opposition lawyers reached out to the Speaker of Parliament stating that public finance fall under the purview of the Parliament and alleging that the payments were sidetracked, asking for a formal investigation. The issue was also flagged to COPA (Committee On Public Accounts).
The Australian High Commission in Colombo said that it was aware of the discrepancies related to payments that Sri Lanka owed them stating that it was working with the country's government to look into the issue.
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