Computer systems of Finnish parliament hacked

This week, it was discovered in Finland that the parliament was hacked in the fall. A similar hacking of the Norwegian parliament around the same time was attributed to Russian intelligence 

The Finnish Parliament said Monday that hackers gained entry to its internal IT system and accessed email accounts of some members of parliament. Government officials said the attack took place in the fall of 2020 and was discovered this month by the parliament's IT staff. The matter is currently being investigated by the Finnish Central Criminal Police (KRP).

In an official statement, KRP Commissioner Tero Muurman said the attack did not cause any damage to the parliament's internal IT system but was not an accidental intrusion either. Muurman said the incident is currently being investigated as a "suspected espionage" incident. 

"At this stage, one alternative is that unknown factors have been able to obtain information through the hacking, either for the benefit of a foreign state or to harm Finland," Muurman said. "The theft has affected more than one person, but unfortunately, we cannot tell the exact number without jeopardizing the ongoing preliminary investigation."  

This fall, Norway's parliament discovered a similar breach of its internal email system, with hackers accessing email accounts of some officials. This month, after a months-long investigation, the Norwegian police secret service (PST) attributed the intrusion to APT28, a group of hackers linked to Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU.