Scottish parliament says 'brute-force' cyber-attack ongoing, has not breached defences

Hackers using a “brute-force” attack repeatedly try to gain access to systems by trying different passwords. PHOTO: REUTERS

EDINBURGH (REUTERS) - Scotland's devolved parliament is suffering an ongoing brute-force cyber attack but the attack has not breached the assembly's IT defences, it said on Wednesday (Aug 16).

"At this point there is no evidence to suggest that the attack has breached our defences and our IT systems continue to be fully operational," the Scottish parliament said in a statement.

"Users should be aware, however, that this attack remains ongoing. It is not uncommon for brute force attacks to be sustained over a period of days, so it is essential that IT account users are vigilant and report any suspicious issues," it added.

Hackers using a "brute-force" attack repeatedly try to gain access to systems by trying different passwords.

Hackers are becoming more and more adept at developing or finding malware to wipe data on computers, making them inoperable and causing data breaches.

Britain's last major cyber attack was the "WannaCry" ransomware attack, which infected hundreds of thousands of computers in May and caused disruptions in more than 150 countries.

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