(Reuters) – Email accounts belonging to some Finnish lawmakers were compromised during a cyberattack on parliament, the authorities said on Monday.
Neither the speaker of parliament nor the National Bureau of Investigation gave any details of what information was lost, if any, or when the attack was, other than saying it was in the autumn.
“The act is not accidental. At this stage, there is a possibility that unknown actors have been able to obtain information through the hacking, either for the benefit of a foreign state or to harm Finland,” Tero Muurman, chief inspector at NBI said a statement.
While Finland has seen a number of wide denial of service attacks on state IT infrastructure over the past years, closing down websites for several hours, Muurman said this was of greater concern.
“This case is exceptional in Finland, serious due to the quality of the target and unfortunate for the victims,” he said.
Parliament said it was co-operating with the NBI in the investigation into the attack.
“The cyber strike on parliament is a serious attack on our democracy and on Finnish society,” Speaker Anu Vehvilainen said in a statement.
(Reporting by Tarmo Virki in Tallinn; Editing by Alison Williams)
