Hacker attack targets German parliament: report

The Bundestag, lower house of German parliament, confirmed to media on Friday that the institution has undergone a cyber attack.

Ernst Hebeker, spokesman of the Bundestag, said the institution's IT system has come under a hacking attack, reported Spiegel Online.

Experts from the Bundestag administration and Germany's Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (BSI) are working to fend off the hackers, Hebeker added.

Parliament IT specialists noticed several days ago that someone was trying to gain access to the Bundestag's internal network, according to Spiegel Online reports.

It is not yet known whether any data storage devices containing sensitive information were penetrated. Parts of the Bundestag's IT system was temporarily shut down, including devices containing information on the parliamentary inquiry into spying by the U.S. National Security Agency in Germany. Endit