The Norwegian parliament suffered a cyber attack during the past week and the e-mail accounts of several elected members as well as employees were hacked, the national assembly and a counter-intelligence agency said on Tuesday.
“This has been a significant attack,” said Marianne Andreassen, the parliament’s non-elected chief administrator.
A “limited number” of lawmakers and employees were impacted, and have been informed, Andreassen told a news conference, although she declined to say how many.
It was not known who was behind the attack or exactly what data had been extracted, she added.
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Several members and staff of Norway’s main opposition Labour Party were affected, a party spokesman told public broadcaster NRK.
The Norwegian National Security Authority (NSA) assisted in countering the attack. “We have been involved for a few days,” NSA spokesman Trond Oevstedal said. “We are assisting parliament with analysis and technical assistance.”
Efforts to halt the attack had “an immediate effect”, said Andreassen.
REUTERS