"The European Parliament is under a sophisticated cyberattack. A pro-Kremlin group has claimed responsibility," the parliament's president, Roberta Metsola, posted on Twitter. "Our IT experts are pushing back against it and protecting our systems. This, after we proclaimed Russia as a State-sponsor of terrorism. My response: #SlavaUkraini (Glory to Ukraine)."
Spokesman Jaume Duch said the parliament website had been targeted by a "DDOS attack" designed to force high levels of outside traffic onto the site's server, disrupting the network.
Another source at the parliament, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack was the "most sophisticated in recent history" to target the institution, Le Monde reported.
The parliament's website went down shortly after EU lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to recognize Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism" over its attacks on Ukraine.
"Today's attack on the European Parliament's systems is a warning shot. It is an attack on the democratic heart of Europe," said German MEP Rasmus Andresen. He said that "we do not yet know" if the attack was linked to the resolution on Russia, but insisted the parliament's systems were "not sufficiently prepared."
MA/PR
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