The Sri Lankan government will be conducting cyber security training for its workforce as part of its Digital Economy 2030 plans, as per a recent Memorandum of Understanding signing. The MoU with the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team Ministry of Technology (SLCERT), Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS), and ISC2 Colombo Chapter will see 1,000 government officers undergo training over a two-year period. The agreement states that the program will build awareness on a range of cybersecurity topics including basic security principles, access control concepts, s ..read more

Spotify has officially announced that its subscription will go up, starting next month. The price hike will come into effect in Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the UK, and at least one other market, with the US to follow later this year. While it’s the second time in less than a year for Spotify, this marks the first time markets like Sri Lanka got a price increase since its launch in 2021. As per the company, the price of a monthly Spotify Premium Individual plan will go from LKR 529 to LKR 750, which marks a roughly 42% increase. Both the Duo and Student plans will see a similar uptick at L ..read more

Sri Lankan digital media company Roar Media has shuttered its news publishing arm in light of its content production studio. Roar, which has been in active operations for a decade, has now pivoted from news to a B2B content creation company. Issuing a statement, the company announced that moving forward, it “will be focusing entirely towards the development of platform-specific content for brands and agencies at scale.” While Roar will no longer publish news, its existing content (2014-2023) remains online in archive form. Although sources say the company’s management at one point almost consi ..read more

Following the news of McDonald’s winding up operations in Sri Lanka, Abans PLC has issued a statement claiming that the group isn’t the franchisee of McDonald’s in Sri Lanka. In a letter addressed to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), the company points out that the local franchisee is its Managing Director Rusi Pestonjee’s International Restaurant Systems as opposed to Abans itself. “International Restaurant Systems (Pvt) Limited is not a subsidiary nor an associate of Abans PLC or its parent company Abans Retail Holdings (Pvt) Limited,” the statement further reads. However, the letter reads a ..read more

Recently, the Colombo Commercial High Court issued an enjoining order preventing the Abans Group from operating McDonald’s (McD) in Sri Lanka. The order was issued following a lawsuit filed by the franchise owner (McDonald’s Corporation) under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003. Effective until the 4th of April, the enjoining order also included the closure of all 12 McDonald’s outlets in Kotahena, Nugegoda, Kiribathgoda, Battaramulla, Kollupitiya, Rajagiriya, Welisara, Mount Lavinia, Colombo City Centre, Shangri-La (One Galle Face), and Macleod Road. By the 23rd o ..read more

The much-anticipated opening of Sri Lanka’s first IMAX movie theatre may be just months away. According to Chassy Cortes, Head of Marketing and PR at Scope Cinemas, the IMAX theatre is set for a 2024 launch. While the company didn’t offer a specific date, Chassy stated that the tentative plan is to open up the theatre in time for the release of either Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (May 24) or Deadpool & Wolverine (July 26). This means that Sri Lankans could potentially watch an IMAX movie as soon as May. Back in August 2020, Scope Cinemas announced that a LKR 500 million six-screen multiplex was ..read more

Gamer.LK recently announced the launch of its original mobile game, ‘Cricket Sixes’. Developed in-house, Cricket Sixes aims to shake up the mobile cricket gaming space in South Asia, offering a unique, competitive experience designed for both casual and hardcore gamers. Cricket Sixes which combines the thrill of cricket with the accessibility of mobile gaming, marks Gamer.LK’s venture into game development. With over 15 years of experience in the Esports industry, Gamer.LK has leveraged its knowledge to create a mobile cricket game that stands out from the competition. Cricket Sixes boasts a u ..read more

The YouTube channel of ITN Sri Lanka, which hosts over 2 million subscribers, has been hacked in what appears to be another crypto scam-related cyberattack. It’s unclear how the channel was hijacked and the entire page hosted livestream crypto scam for over a day. Fortunately, ITN has since recovered with the ITN Sri Lanka chairman Sudarshana Gunawardana issuing a statement, confirming the recovery. Earlier, in response to a tweet, the chairman stated that the company was in touch with YouTube Creator Support and is in the process of recovering the account. ⁦@YouTube⁩ channel of the ⁦@ITNSri ..read more

The National Water Supply and Drainage Board’s revamped online portal may have some security vulnerabilities that could comprise user data. First pointed out by @ishanul on Twitter, the NWSDB Online platform’s APIs are open in a way that would allow malicious actors to extract sensitive user data with ease. The vulnerability could potentially expose data such as email addresses, mobile numbers, and passwords. What’s more alarming is that the passwords on the NWSDB Online platform are seemingly stored in plaintext. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be a new problem as NWSDB consumers have com ..read more

Recently, the Finance Ministry announced that the government has pushed the deadline for some of the announced tax changes by one month. Accordingly, individuals now have until February 1 for vehicle registration, revenue licenses, and property purchases without a tax file. As of now, individuals 18 years or older and residents of Sri Lanka starting January 1, 2024 are to be registered with the Inland Revenue Department. Registering for taxes and obtaining a Tax Identification Number (TIN) was made mandatory following the 2024 budget reading. So what does that mean for you? Here’s what you nee ..read more