The BBC's website has been hit by an attack which displayed adverts through four separate networks, leading to some visitors' devices being infected with ransomware. Around 13 websites, including the BBC, New York Times and MSN, were targeted by hackers who had taken over a web domain which had formerly displayed legitimate adverts. The criminals took control of the site once the former owners failed to renew their lease.

The attacks targeted mainly US visitors to the popular sites, and exploited a number of flaws and vulnerabilities to redirect users to servers hosting the malware. The visitor may then be faced with a bitcoin ransom to unlock their device once their hard drive has been encrypted by the malicious software.

BBC.com receives around 290.6 million monthly browsers, according to SimilarWeb.com. BBC.co.uk was not affected by the attack.

Internet security sites Trustwave and Malware noted an increase in malicious activity from the high-profile sites from Saturday March 12.

"If one was to take a wild guess, one might think that [the hackerts] actually are watching for any domains containing the word "media" that have recently expired," Daniel Chechik, Simon Kenin and Rami Kogan of Trustwave said.

"Whether or not this will turn into a new trend, it's certainly an interesting development in the world of Malvertising, once again reminding us how difficult it is for both end-users and ad networks to deal with this threat."

The advert networks are working towards fixing the issue, according to the BBC.

Lincolnshire County Council's computer systems were shut down for close to a week following a ransomware attack in which the attackers demanded a

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe paid his last respects to former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today. He also met Indian Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi at Singh's residence.

A Sri Lankan woman with health issues caused a plane to make an emergency landing at the Erbil International Airport on Wednesday. She died in the Kurdish capital hours later, according to Sri Lanka’s honorary consul.

Sri Lankan President Anura Dissanayake expressed interest in joining BRICS in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the republic's ambassador to Moscow Pakir Amza told RIA Novosti.

While the Government has pledged to initiate a fresh investigation into the murder of rugby player Wasim Thajudeen, it has yet to reach out to the Thajudeen family or their lawyer regarding the ongoing cases and the promised new probe, The Daily Morning learnt.

The Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board revealed that floods in November damaged approximately 80,000 acres of farmland. According to the Board, crop damage assessments were completed in Polonnaruwa, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, and Mannar, with compensation pending final reports.

Sri Lanka has welcomed its 2 millionth tourist who arrived from Bangkok this year, at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), after a five-year gap. This marks the fourth time in history that annual tourist arrivals have surpassed 2 million, with previous instances occurring in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved drafting a new bill to combat illegal and unregulated poaching in Sri Lankan waters, replacing the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No. 2 of 1996.

Sri Lanka Police has suspended its annual transfer orders for 2025 for six months. The suspension was based on a directive from Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya on 24 December.

The National People's Power (NPP) is to contest the upcoming Local Government (LG) and Provincial Council (PC) Elections under its current structure, with the groups currently aligned with them.

The government is yet to assign vehicles to the MPs of the new Parliament though it has taken a policy decision to do so. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Daily Mirror yesterday that the government is currently in the process of auctioning luxury vehicles. He said most of the MPs were using their own vehicles at the moment.