Norway blames Russian hackers for dam sabotage

Norway blames Russian hackers for dam sabotage

Russian hackers temporarily took control of a dam in Norway earlier this year, the head of the Nordic country’s counterintelligence agency said Wednesday. It is the first time Oslo has officially attributed the cyberattack to its neighbor.

While taking control of the dam in Bremanger, western Norway, on April 7, hackers opened a gate and released 500 liters of water per second for four hours before the attack was detected and stopped, authorities had previously said.

There were no injuries during this attack.

Norway produces most of its electricity through hydroelectric dams, and intelligence authorities have previously warned of the risk of attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure.

“Over the past year, we have seen a change in the activity of pro-Russian cyber actors,” Beate Gangaas, head of Norway’s security police agency, PST, said in a speech.

The Bremanger incident was one of these activities, Gangaas added.

“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 Russian embassy in Oslo said Gangaa’s statements were “baseless and politically motivated.”

“It is clear that the PST is trying, unsuccessfully, to support the mythical threat of Russian sabotage of Norwegian infrastructure this year, which it itself invented in its February [annual] report,” the Russian Embassy said in a statement to Reuters.

Last September, British intelligence accused Russia of waging an “extremely reckless campaign” of sabotage in Europe, partly to intimidate European countries into withholding aid to Ukraine.

Moscow has denied these accusations.

After her speech, Gangaas told Reuters that she spoke publicly about this in order to warn the population and in an effort to prevent Russia from carrying out new attacks.

“I want Norwegians to be prepared,” she said.

Norway, a NATO member, shares a border with Russia in the Arctic. Like other Nordic countries, it is a strong supporter of Ukraine.

Norway is also the largest supplier of gas to Europe, which is mainly transported through a network of pipelines under the North Sea./REL