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Report: Hackers target Norwegian Nobel Institute for second time

Nov 10, 2010, 14:40 GMT

Oslo - A computer belonging to the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, was targeted by hackers, the Aftenposten daily reported Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, an email, purported to be from the information technology company the institute uses, was sent to Geir Lundestad's computer.

Lundestad became suspicious and alerted the IT company, averting a cyber attack, the report said.

The incident came a few weeks after the institute's website was hacked. Although the originator of the cyber attack was traced to an internet protocol address in Taiwan, experts said it had been re- routed there.

A spokesperson for IT security systems agency NorCERT that said it appeared the two attempts were linked.

Fake invitations to the December 10 award ceremony have meanwhile been circulating online, according to an article in Computerworld magazine. The article noted that a document containing malicious software, or malware, was included as an attachment.

Lundestad is also secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee - the five-member body that awards the Nobel Peace Prize.

This year the committee selected jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, sparking angry reactions from Beijing. China has has urged other countries not to attend the award ceremony.

The Norwegian Nobel Institute was set up in 1904 and assists to the committee in vetting candidates nominated for the prize.

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