UK lawmakers hit by cyber attack preventing them from accessing emails

The British parliament has been hit by a cyber attack that is preventing lawmakers from accessing their emails when not in Westminster, politicians and media reports said on Saturday.

The Telegraph newspaper said lawmakers were alerted to the hack on Friday and were unable to access their email accounts on Saturday.

1:00 Experts say global cyber attack possibly linked to North Korea

• Experts say global cyber attack possibly linked to North Korea
• Cyber attack aftershocks disrupt devices across Asia
• Europol Director warns Friday’s cyber attack could spread further Monday morning
• Massive cyber attack being investigated by FBI, Homeland Security
• Is Canada prepared for a cyber attack?
• Admiral Mike Rogers: No drop in Russian cyber attacks since the election
• Keeping charities, local organizations safe from cyber attacks

Previous Video

Next Video

Chris Rennard, a member of the Liberal Democrat party in the upper House of Lords, said on Twitter: “Cyber security attack on Westminster, Parliamentary emails may not work remotely, Text urgent messages.”

The BBC quoted a spokeswoman at the House of Commons as saying the lack of email access was due to the steps being taken to manage the issue.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“The Houses of Parliament have discovered unauthorized attempts to access parliamentary user accounts,” the spokeswoman said.

“We are continuing to investigate this incident and take further measures to secure the computer network, liaising with the National Cyber Security Centre.

Systems were in place to protect member and staff accounts, she said.

Neither the House of Commons nor the Cyber Security Centre could immediately be reached for comment.

Britain’s National Health Service was hit by a massive ransomware attack in May which crippled the computer system and forced some hospitals to turn away patients.