German parliament knocked offline: reports

The German parliament was knocked offline today, according to media reports, as authorities investigate if it had fallen prey to a hacking attack or if it was a technical fault.
Spiegel Online reported that employees in the lower chamber of parliament have had no Internet access since around 1400 GMT.
"The last email in the inbox came in at 14:24," a lawmaker's aide told Spiegel.
Die Welt daily said investigators were examining if there had been a hardware fault, or if the network had been hit by hackers.
The Bundestag's press service was not immediately available for comment.
The German parliament in 2015 fell victim to an attack that security services have since blamed on Russia.

That rogue operation against the Bundestag involved an aggressive attack by hacking group Sofacy that had also struck NATO members and put French TV station TV5Monde off air.

In the run-up to general elections in September, authorities have repeatedly warned that Germany could see more cyberattacks.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has also warned that cyberattacks from Russia are now so common that Germany must learn to cope with them as part of daily life.
In September, several political parties were sent fake emails purporting to be from NATO headquarters but which in fact contained a link that installed spying software on victims' computers.

The emails affected party operations such as the regional network of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union in a western state, and the federal offices of the Left party.