<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A foreign state actor has hacked a parliamentarian and three staff members' WhatsApp accounts, leading to the platform being temporarily blocked.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A Department of Parliamentary Services official told a Senate hearing today there was a "targeted phishing activity" on March 6.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They received reports from a parliamentarian and three staffers that their accounts had been compromised.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-live-updates-may-25-donald-trump-latest-world-news-headlines/d67ef258-4f90-43cb-8ab3-c229d074f404" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'Maybe today': Rubio hints US-Iran deal could come sooner than we think</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These accounts were on both personal and DPS devices," the official said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"All the accounts were compromised in the same manner."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The department found a threat actor had requested a verification code to be sent to the victim, received that code and then used that to log in to the account. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/foreign-state-actor-hacked-parliamentarians-whatsapp-account/90e7f13c-a3eb-47bc-b5e0-afd669f4d9f1" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It found evidence that suggested a foreign state actor was behind the phishing campaign. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The objective was to take over the accounts, which is what did occur," the official said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The official did not state what country was behind the attack. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There's lots of public reporting of state-sponsored WhatsApp phishing campaigns targeting government officials," the official said, adding the same had happened in the US, Germany and the Netherlands.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/cathay-pacific-flight-turbulence-brisbane/0f4d24f9-66e2-4326-bf2e-a7820d206766" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Ten hurt after plane hit with turbulence from Brisbane to Hong Kong</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>The Guardian</span></em><span> has previously reported Russia was behind increasing phishing attacks against UK parliamentarians on platforms like WhatsApp and Signal.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The department issued a temporary block on WhatsApp web services on March 9, which has since been lifted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>According to the official, WhatsApp still has a place for use but urged parliamentarians and staffers to make accounts as secure as possible and avoid sharing confidential information through the platform.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Senate hearing heard there have been more than 20,000 phishing attempts, 46 detections of malware and 1458 cyber alerts in this latest financial year to March 31.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I think there are times where we have much higher attempts and times when, obviously, attention is diverted elsewhere," another official said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nine.com.au has contacted the Department of Parliamentary Services for further comment.</span></div></div>