Big Ben in London
© Darren Staples / Reuters
The UK's Houses of Parliament have been targeted by cyber attackers, according to a parliamentary spokesperson.

Unauthorized attempts to access parliamentary user accounts have forced Westminster to take security measures in conjunction with the National Cyber Security Centre, a parliamentary spokesperson said on Saturday.
"We are continuing to investigate this incident and take further measures to secure the computer network, liaising with the National Cyber Security Centre," they said in a statement.

"We have systems in place to protect member and staff accounts and are taking the necessary steps to protect our systems," the statement added
Some lawmakers posted online that they had had difficulties accessing their emails remotely.

Liberal Democrat Lord Rennard tweeted around 3pm local time to say there had been a security attack on Westminster.


Labour MP for Dudley, Ian Austin, also tweeted that he had been unable to access parliamentary emails.


The attempted attack follows reports that the email passwords of British cabinet ministers were being traded online.