Hacker group ‘Alpha Team’ breaches Sri Lanka’s Water Board

All customers of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) in Sri Lanka were shocked today (June 1) to receive a threatening SMS message claiming that their personal data had been stolen by a hacker group calling itself ‘Alpha Team.’

The message, which was sent to thousands of mobile phones, read:

“DONT BLAME US, BLAME UR GOV. YOUR WATERBOARD ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED BY ALPHA TEAM. YOUR DATA CAN RECOVER IF WE GOT 1.5BTC TO THIS ADDRESS (Wallet address removed)”

The message accuses the Sri Lankan government of negligence and demands a ransom of 1.5 Bitcoin (BTC), which is equivalent to approximately LKR 47.21 million (based on current exchange rates), to recover the compromised customer data.

The NWSDB is the government institution responsible for providing clean drinking water and sanitation services across Sri Lanka.

The sudden breach has raised major concerns about the security of sensitive personal information held by public institutions.