Norway hit with cyberattack, temporarily suspending service

Norway’s public and private sector websites were temporarily down on Wednesday following a cyberattack that targeted the country’s national data network, forcing it to suspend online services for several hours.

Sofie Nystrøm, head of the Norwegian National Security Authority (NSM), said a criminal pro-Russian group seemed to be behind the hacks, adding the attacks “give the impression that we are a piece in the current political situation in Europe,” according to The Associated Press. 

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said he believed the distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack had not “caused any significant damage,” the AP reported.

Although the authorities did not specify the motivations behind the hack, Norwegian media reported that there were complaints over Russian supplies being blocked from passing through Norway to an Arctic Russian coal mining settlement, according to the AP.

The attack on Norway comes two days after Lithuania reported a similar hack that targeted public and private institution websites.

A Russian-backed hacking group known as Killnet claimed responsibility for Monday’s hack against Lithuania.

The hackers claimed the attack was in retaliation for Lithuania’s decision to halt the shipment of some goods to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, which is situated between Poland and Lithuania, Reuters reported. 

A Lithuania official warned that “more intense attacks” were expected in the coming days, including ransomware and website defacement.