Cyber attack spreads to European Parliament

The European Parliament’s computer network has come under a cyber attack, similar to an attack on the European Commission last week.

A spokesperson for the Parliament this morning (29 March) confirmed that the attack was still taking place. “Information technology services are working day and night to investigate and have put in place some security measures,” the spokesperson said. The measures include blocking access to email services through web browsers.

The Commission and the Parliament have separate IT systems.

“This is not a couple of teenage boys hacking into the [EU] institutions,” an official said, adding that the attackers had penetrated the IT systems for the purpose of “snooping around”.

The attack on the Parliament is thought to have begun last Thursday (24 March). The Commission detected an intrusion two days earlier. It is unclear whether both institutions were attacked at the same time or whether the attack unfolded in stages. An official said that the attacks appeared to be co-ordinated.

The Council of Ministers has not been affected, a spokesperson for the Council’s secretariat said.