"An overload attack has been launched against the parliament's website," writes the Finnish Riksdag on Twitter.
The attack began around 2:30 p.m. and has resulted in users having difficulty opening the website during the afternoon.
Parliament is working together with internet providers and the country's cyber security center to limit the consequences, it is further stated.
Russian hacker group
According to information to Yle, a Russian hacker group with the name NoName057(16) is behind the attack.
"We decided to make a 'friendly' visit to neighboring Finland, whose authorities have become so keen to join NATO," the group writes on the Telegram communication service, reports Yle.
The Russian group is a familiar name to security experts, Mikko Hyppönen, head of research at the company Withsecures, tells Yle.
He describes them as one of the most visible since the war in Ukraine broke out.
- It is about a patriotic hacker group that became active at the beginning of March as soon as the war started.
Unlike other groups, this group only carries out overload attacks, that is, crashes services, he says.
No security issues
According to Hyppönen, there is no guaranteed method that protects against overload attacks.
Hackers often try several different methods until they succeed.
He tells Yle that he sees no major security problems with the Finnish authorities' servers.
"Parliament is taking measures to limit the attack, together with service providers and the Cyber Security Centre," writes the Finnish Riksdag on Twitter.
Photo: Twitter