#DataScam - Investigations to conclude in a few weeks

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka Police said the investigations on the deletion of files from the NMRA database will be completed within the next two weeks.

The Criminal Investigations Department and the University of Moratuwa are conducting joint investigations on the mysterious disappearance of files from the Lanka Government Cloud.

The final report will be produced to the court, said Sri Lanka Police.

Gigabytes of files from the NMRA database hosted by the Lanka Government Cloud which is operated by the Information and Communication Technology Agency went missing in early July, and this event has been dubbed as the #DataScam.

The Lanka Government Cloud is considered to be one of the most secured systems in the country and the responsibility of ensuring its security is vested with the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA).

Epic Lanka Technologies is identified as the service provider for the National Medicines Regulatory Authority, which also has a database in the Lanka Government Cloud, to streamline its operations and services.

Epic Lanka Technologies said the deletion of data was the result of a human error or a mistake by an engineer.

There are serious concerns as to why there was no Backup or Disaster Recovery System for the NMRA database in the Lanka Government Cloud.

On the 13th of September 2021, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris informed the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that the deletion of data from countries Medicine Regulatory Authority (NMRA) Database could be the result of a conspiracy hatched by the Medical Mafia that “cashes in” by importing “medicines and medical devices”.