The Norwegian Parliament has been hit by another cyberattack just six months after its IT systems were previously compromised, its administrative chief Marianne Andreassen said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We know that data has been extracted but we do not yet have a complete overview of the situation,” she said.
The attack is related to a “vulnerability” in Microsoft’s Exchange email and calendaring software, which the tech giant may not have been aware of, but which hackers may have been able to exploit.
Andreassen said the extent of the damage and the culprits are unknown, but that parliament has taken “comprehensive measures” in collaboration with Norway’s security services.
The incident has also been reported to the police.
President of the Norwegian Parliament Tone Wilhelmsen Troen said the country’s threat level is “increasingly demanding” and that cyberattacks can have “serious consequences” for democratic processes.
It is not known if this latest hack on the parliament is connected to another in September 2020, in which the emails of several MPs and members of staff were hacked.
Data was reportedly downloaded in that attack, which was described as “significant” and was investigated by Norway’s counterintelligence agency, the National Security Authority (NSA), alongside the police.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereideclaimed in October that Russian hackers were behind the attack – allegations Moscow denies and for which Oslo has provided no evidence.
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