back to article Och. Scottish Parliament under siege from brute-force cyber attack

Hackers are trying to break into Scottish Parliament email accounts weeks after similar campaigns against Westminster. MSPs and Holyrood staff were warned on Tuesday that as-yet unidentified hackers were running "brute-force" attacks on systems in the devolved assembly, The Guardian reports. Similar attacks on Westminster back …

  1. Kaltern

    They can take our lives... but they'll never take our DATA!!

  2. wolfetone Silver badge
    Coat

    Well it's a good job the MP's are on holiday isn't it? This sort of carry on would prevent them from doing their normal duties.

    No, wait, sorry. It wouldn't stop, it'd help them more.

  3. Chris G

    A Scottish acquaintance insists the English have a long and persistent history of sneaky attacks on Scotland.

    I guess that makes GCHQ a hot suspect.,

  4. P.Nutt

    Just waiting for Nicola to come out with the line "Under Scottish rule this would never happen"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Apparently she's going to hold a once in a generation referendum to see if hacking should be a Scottish thing only and if the result is not what she wanted, she'll hold another one a few years later.

      She expects the UK government to allow it to use English, Welsh and Northern Irish computers to support this action because, well y'know whatever. All home grown hacking will be supported by the oil industry running at $100 a barrel and a new tax on UK goods to enter Scotland. Whisky will however still have to have no import taxes into the rest of the UK.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Facepalm....

    "Legislators and support staff have been advised to update their passwords with longer and stronger combinations of letters, numbers and special characters in response."

    Even the guy that came up with this idea says it's pointless

    https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/08/the-guy-who-invented-those-annoying-password-rules-now-regrets-wasting-your-time/

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Facepalm....

      Yep the new advice is a series of words generating more entropy.

      Like say for example

      "donaldwheresyourtrousers"

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Facepalm....

        Hey how did you guess my Password????

        --- D. Trump

        1. John G Imrie

          Re: Facepalm....

          Anonymous Coward is obviously some Evil Russian Hacker™ plotting to bring down the US government.

          -- Press Secretary (at time of writing) to The President of the United States of America

      2. Swiss Anton

        Re: Facepalm....

        "donaldwheresyourtrousers"

        They may be in a hotel room in Moscow.

        1. WolfFan Silver badge

          Re: Facepalm....

          "donaldwheresyourtrousers"

          They may be in a hotel room in Moscow.

          And they may still be slightly damp.

      3. katrinab Silver badge

        Re: Facepalm....

        Or, in this case, alexwhursyertroosers would be a better guess.

    2. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: Facepalm....

      Yup, but it'll still take years before Manglement recognizes that and changes their stance.

      Who knows, it might take a whole generation of manglement to change things. And one can only hope that the new generation, whenever it comes to power, will stop limiting password length to 8 bloody chars.

  6. Dan 55 Silver badge

    Standing over a thistle in just a kilt

    No 2FA, no certificates, and the whole Internet trying MPs' luggage combinations just for the lulz? Whoever set up their IT is one fried mars bar short of a heart attack.

    1. Prst. V.Jeltz Silver badge

      Re: Standing over a thistle in just a kilt

      just try CelticFC on all of them and your bound to get a few

      1. WolfFan Silver badge
        Angel

        Re: Standing over a thistle in just a kilt

        just try CelticFC on all of them and your bound to get a few

        Only the Catholics. The prods will use 'Gers', if only 'cause they're too bloody ignorant to spell 'Rangers'.

        1. wolfetone Silver badge

          Re: Standing over a thistle in just a kilt

          "Only the Catholics. The prods will use 'Gers', if only 'cause they're too bloody ignorant to spell 'Rangers'."

          Rangers died long, long ago. The team you're referring to is Sevco.

          Although, I'm not sure they've paid HMRC yet. Or their face painters.

    2. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

      Re: Standing over a thistle in just a kilt

      Did someone say that they don't have 2FA etc? Just - as reminder - don't have stupidpassword to go with it.

  7. Seanmon

    They'll nae unnerstaun it onywiz.

    1. Little Mouse

      Slight tangent here - but did anyone in Scotland, ever, say the word "Jings!!" apart from in The Beano & The Dandy?

      1. Alister

        but did anyone in Scotland, ever, say the word "Jings!!"

        Roddy Roy MacGregor used to say it all the time...

  8. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Holyrood

    I always have to read that word twice.

    Every time, my brain first reads "Hollywood".

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Holyrood

      Which is the one where they keep churning out the same ridiculous cartoon fantasies, they take in $billions but somehow seem to lose money on every project?

      1. wolfetone Silver badge

        Re: Holyrood

        "Which is the one where they keep churning out the same ridiculous cartoon fantasies, they take in $billions but somehow seem to lose money on every project?"

        Westminster?

    2. DuchessofDukeStreet

      Re: Holyrood

      Hollywood aka La La Land?

    3. TheVogon

      Re: Holyrood

      "my brain first reads "Hollywood"."

      Hollywood for ugly people that don't speak English well...

      1. Anonymous Coward
  9. barstewardsquad
    Joke

    Barnett Formula

    Apparently WJK had complained that under the Barnett Formula the Scottish Parliament was entitled to a greater number of hacking attempts than Westminster, and that the situation be remedied immediately or she would seek a mandate for a(nother) referendum!

  10. Mark Manderson

    their passwords are easy

    they are all following Mhairi Blacks timeless House of Commons quote, they all use, "yir talking shite hen"

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/snp-mhairi-black-video-conservative-minister-caroline-nokes-tory-hen-commons-scottish-footage-a7618706.html

    (0:46)

  11. arctic_haze

    "there is no evidence to suggest that the attack has breached our defences"

    Those days are past now,

    And in the past

    they must remain,

    But we can still rise now,

    And be the nation again,

    That stood against him,

    Proud Hacker's Army,

    And sent him homeward,

    To think again.

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