The key facts

  • NSM: the number of successful cyberattacks on Norwegian organisations has tripled over the past six months
  • The first assessment of its kind to be published; the defence industry and space sector are especially vulnerable
  • The report does not name a specific attacker; separate warnings were issued about AI risks

Tripled attacks and the first public assessment

Norway's National Security Authority (NSM), which is responsible for countering espionage and hybrid threats, reported on 27 October that over the past six months the number of 'successful' cyberattacks on Norwegian organisations has tripled. The agency's director, Arne Christian Hågstøl, stressed that the NSM had never previously published an assessment of this kind and is doing so now because 'it is urgently necessary to strengthen both the resilience and the ability of Norwegian organisations to withstand cyber operations' (euronews).

Who is in the risk zone and what changes in practice

The report notes that the defence industry and the space sector are particularly vulnerable, as well as critical infrastructure and service providers for organisations important to national security. According to the NSM, a number of companies and organisations are increasingly being subjected to digital reconnaissance, ransomware attacks and DDoS attacks. No specific attacker is named in the document — this distinguishes the official assessment from August reports in Norwegian media that a Russian hacker group had declared 'war' on Norway and claimed responsibility for a DDoS attack that, it was alleged, disrupted the operation of several government digital services. The very publication of the assessment is a practical signal for Norwegian organisations: the agency directly links the release to the need to accelerate the implementation of security measures.

Warning about artificial intelligence

Separately, the NSM described artificial intelligence technologies as a 'serious risk' to Norwegian businesses and organisations. According to Hågstøl, AI 'analyses huge volumes of data and identifies vulnerabilities faster than humans could,' which opens up opportunities for cyberattacks 'more frequently and on a larger scale,' meaning that the speed of implementing security measures must increase significantly. The report was released amid growing warnings across Europe about alleged Russian hybrid attacks, including cyber operations — however, the document itself, as euronews notes, contains no such accusations.