The Finnish Parliament website was unavailable to users due to a hack on Tuesday, August 9th. According to a parliamentary statement announcing this cyberattack, it took place around 2:30 pm local time, and Parliament is now taking steps to limit the damage.
Who is behind the hack is still unknown for sure. Meanwhile, Finnish TV channel Yle reports that a hacking group called NoName057(16) published a Telegram post that read: “We have decided to pay a “friendly” visit to neighboring Finland, whose authorities are so eager to join NATO.” . Finnish journalists call the NoName057(16) hacking group pro-Russian.
Finland’s accession to NATO
In May, the Finnish intelligence service SUPO warned of a possible increase in the number of hacker attacks in connection with the country’s decision to join NATO. In early April, the head of SUPO, Antti Pelttari, noted that when websites are hacked, it seems that society is “paralyzed”. However, such attacks are not capable of bringing real destruction, he added at the time.
On 15 May, Finnish President Sauli Niiniste announced that Helsinki would apply to join NATO. Moscow reacted harshly to this statement, threatening a serious deterioration in Russian-Finnish relations in the event that the border state with the Russian Federation joins the North Atlantic Alliance.
On August 9, US President Joe Biden signed documents ratifying the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO by Washington.
Source: DW
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