The director of the Norwegian Security Service, Beate Gangaas. Credit: Terje Pedersen / NTB Scanpix / Profimedia
The Russian hackers have taken the control of a dam in Norway this year for a short time, said the barrapening agency in the northern country on Wednesday, being the first time Oslo is officially attributed to the neighboring country, Reuters reports.
On April 7, while they were at the command of the dam in Bremanger, in western Norway, hackers opened an evacuation gate and released 500 liters of water per second for four hours before the attack was detected and stopped, had previously declared the authorities.
There were no injured following the attack.
Norway produces most of its electricity through hydroelectric dams, and the authorities in the intelligence sector had warned in the past on the risk of attacks on the energy infrastructure.
“In the last year, I have noticed a change in the activity of pro-Russian cyber actors,” said the director of the Security Service (PST), Beate Gangaas.
The incident in Bremanger was such an activity, added Gangaas.
“The purpose of this type of operation is to influence and cause fear and chaos among the general population,” she said. “Our Russian neighbor has become more dangerous,” the PST's head warned.
Russia denies the accusations
The Russian Embassy in Oslo argues that the statements of the PST chief are “unfounded and politically motivated.”
“It is obvious that the PST is unsuccessful trying to justify the mythical threat of Russian sabotage against the Norwegian infrastructure this year, which he himself invented in his (annual) report of February,” says the Russian diplomatic mission in an email to Reuters.
Last year, the head of British espionage accused Russia of leading an “amazingly insane campaign” of sabotages in Europe, in part to scare European countries so that they no longer help Ukraine. Moscow also denied this accusation.
After Wednesday's speech, the head of PST told Reuters that he has made public this attribution to warn the general population and to try to prevent Russia from launching other attacks.
“I want the Norwegians to be prepared,” she said in an interview.
Norway, a NATO member, has a common border with Russia in the Arctic area. Like the other Nordic countries, he is a supporter of Ukraine. It is also the largest gas supplier in Europe, gas that is mainly transported by a North Sea pipe network.
