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Pro-Russian group claims responsibility for cyberattack on Norwegian digital services

The denial-of-service attack targeting Norway's public service portal is the largest in the agency's history, though operations remained mostly online.

The short version

  • A pro-Russian hacker group known as Server Killers claimed responsibility for a denial-of-service attack targeting Norwegian public digital infrastructure.
  • The attack flooded government systems with traffic starting Monday, affecting public services including a unified citizen login portal.
  • The Norwegian Digitalization Agency reported keeping systems running almost continuously despite it being the largest attack the agency has ever faced.
  • The hackers stated the attack was in retaliation for Norway renewing security cooperation and committing $9.2 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Key facts

  • The pro-Russian group Server Killers claimed responsibility on Telegram for a denial-of-service attack against Norwegian public digital infrastructure.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • Spokesperson Are Kvistad of the Norwegian Digitalization Agency stated that the cyberattack began on Monday and represents the largest attack the agency has ever experienced.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • The targeted systems included a single-login tool used by citizens to access multiple public services.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • The agency managed to maintain operations almost continuously throughout the attack.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre previously announced 85 billion Norwegian crowns ($9.2 billion) in financial aid to Ukraine from next year's state budget.[Associated Press · ABC News]

What remains uncertain

  • Norwegian officials had not publicly verified or commented on the claim of responsibility by Server Killers as of publication time.[Associated Press · ABC News]

Sources