The malware used in the attack is similar to the notorious Red October

Nov 1, 2013 10:39 GMT  ·  By

Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has revealed that the government’s communications have been targeted in a four-year-long cyber espionage operation. The cyberattacks have been allegedly conducted by China or Russia.

According to Finland’s MTV3, the data breaches were discovered last spring. The espionage operation appears to have targeted communications between European Union and Finnish officials.

Officials have refused to point the finger at anyone, but sources have told the Finnish publication that it appears to be the work of Russia or China.

Government representatives cited by Uusi Suomi say that the malware used in the operation is similar to Red October, a threat whose existence was revealed in January 2013 by researchers from Kaspersky.

An investigation has been launched into the spy attack, and the European Union has been informed of it.

Over the past months, the United States' NSA and the British GCHQ have been the main suspects as far as cyber espionage operations are concerned. However, it was only a matter of time until Russia and China got back into the spotlight.