The Finnish National Bureau of Investigations (NBI) said on 26 March 2024, that one suspect has been identified in an investigation of cyber espionage of the Finnish Parliament’s databases back in 2020-2021. The China-linked APT31 cyber espionage group is suspected of being involved in the case. In March 2021 the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) said APT31 was identified as being behind the cyber attack.
Authorities from abroad and Supo worked closely together on the case with NBI. According to Reuters news agency, authorities in the US and Britain filed charges and handed sanctions to APT31. They claimed the group was behind a global campaign of espionage. The cyber espionage group is suspected of targeting millions of people over a span of more than ten years. Most of their victims were from the US and Britain and they include lawmakers, officials, activists, academics and journalists and an abundance of companies.
According to the NBI’s Detective Chief Inspector Aku Lumnéll, who is the lead investigator in the case, the criminal investigation has been time-consuming as the investigations into a complex criminal infrastructure, which has been challenging.
NBI investigates it as cases of aggravated espionage, aggravated unlawful access to an information system and aggravated violation of the secrecy of communications.
Source: yle.fi
