The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Tuesday that it had identified one suspect in an investigation of cyber espionage of Finnish Parliament's databases in 2020-2021.
The NBI probe, which is ongoing, is being investigated as cases of aggravated espionage, aggravated unlawful access to an information system, and aggravated violation of the secrecy of communications, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the NBI confirmed that it suspected the China-linked cyber espionage group APT31 of involvement in the case and that police have identified one suspect.
In March 2021, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) said it identified APT31 as being behind the cyber attack on Parliament.
"The criminal investigation has been demanding and time-consuming because it has involved challenging investigations into a complex criminal infrastructure," said the NBI's Detective Chief Inspector Aku Limnéll, lead investigator in the case.
The NBI added that investigators had worked closely on the case with authorities from abroad as well as Supo.
On Tuesday, Reuters news agency reported that authorities in the US and Britain filed charges and handed sanctions to APT31, alleging that the group was behind a global espionage campaign.
The news agency noted that the group is suspected of targeting millions of people, mostly in the US and Britain, for more than ten years, including "officials, lawmakers, activists, academics and journalists," and a number of companies.
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