Hundreds of politicians’ passwords are leaked

Computer networkComputer network.Photo: Heiko Junge / SCANPIX .

The passwords of several hundred Norwegian politicians and embassy staff were leaked in connection with hacker attacks on social media and cloud services.

Global network services like Dropbox and LinkedIn were among those who had been subjected to attacks, in which millions of usernames, passwords, and sometimes other information was stolen.

Among those who had user information stolen in the hacking attacks were 727 MPs, embassy personnel, and employees of the state apparatus, reported VG newspaper . Chief of Staff, Julie Brodtkorb, Communications Manager, Trude Måseide, and six others at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO),were among those affected.

In several places online you can look up the user accounts that are affected, and one’s own information is also compromised. VG found 114 emails and passwords associated to @ stortinget.no addresses.

The chief of the Parliamentary IT Department, Rebekah Gundhus, said they are familiar with the problem, but that parliament had not received notification beyond that which the appropriate service providers sent out.

Hakon Bergsjø, of the National Security Authority, said it was not unusual for passwords to be put out online.

‘In attacks on services like LinkedIn, much of this information is sold on to someone who will exploit it. That is why it is important to have different passwords on different websites’, he explained.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today