UK Parliament Emails Closed After 'Sustained And Determined' Cyber-Attack (theguardian.com)

An anonymous reader quotes the Guardian: Parliament has been hit by a "sustained and determined" cyber-attack by hackers attempting to gain access to MPs' and their staffers' email accounts. Both houses of parliament were targeted on Friday in an attack that sought to gain access to accounts protected by weak passwords... The estate's digital services team said they had made changes to accounts to block out the hackers, and that the changes could mean staff were unable to access their emails...

The international trade secretary, Liam Fox, told ITV News the attack was a "warning to everyone we need more security and better passwords. You wouldn't leave your door open at night." In an interview with the BBC, he added: "We know that there are regular attacks by hackers attempting to get passwords. We have seen reports in the last few days of even Cabinet ministers' passwords being for sale online. We know that our public services are attacked, so it is not at all surprising that there should be an attempt to hack into parliamentary emails."
One member of Parliament posted on Twitter "Sorry, no parliamentary email access today â" we're under cyber-attack from Kim Jong-un, Putin or a kid in his mom's basement or something." He added later, "I'm off to the pub."

Comments

Their system protects member accounts

[ale2011]

So perhaps it isn't such a bad idea to use your home-brew email server after all.

Better passwords?

[93 Escort Wagon]

Wouldn't requiring two-factor auth be a better idea?

passwords need to go

[Anonymous Coward]

Why can't the email for MPs use client side SSL certificates for authentication instead of passwords. This isn't really all that hard to do, just a little extra effort.

This password nonsense needs to end.

I don't understand the problem

[oobayly]

If they've got nothing to hide they've got nothing to fear...

In light of all the anti-privacy legislation that the UK government has been passing, I've got to wonder if somebody's making a point.

notified by email

[klindsay]

MPs said they were unable to access their emails after the attack began.
An email sent to all those affected, ... (outside Westminster)
What could possibly go wrong with this means of notification?

Re:OMG!

[Blue Stone]

What I want to know is why a British MP is using the American word "mom" in a communication instead of the British "mum".

Outrageous!