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DATA ATTACKS: The Storting confirmed Tuesday that various Storting representatives and employees suffered email hacks. Photo: Terje Bringedal
PST is launching an investigation into the TI attack on the Storting and is investigating whether it may be part of a larger intelligence operation against Norway.
PST confirmed on Wednesday that they have opened an investigation into the computer attack on the Storting.
– In the investigation, we will work closely with security and intelligence organizations in Norway. We’re looking to find out if a state actor is behind this, says senior adviser Annett Aamodt on PST to VG.
In other words, they will try to find out if there is another country behind the TI attack.
– One of our hypotheses in this case is that it may be a state actor that is behind it. At the same time, it not only has to be a digital attack, but it can be part of a larger intelligence operation carried out by foreign intelligence services from states with which Norway does not have security policy cooperation, Aamodt explains. .
Various parties hit
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In the latest PST national threat assessment, espionage against the government, the Storting and the Armed Forces is mentioned as one of the biggest threats.
– Attacks like this are part of the threat landscape that we describe for 2020. This type of attack can cause great damage and therefore constitutes a great threat.
Several Storting members and employees have had their email accounts hacked.
VG is informed that an employee of the Liberal Party is among those affected by the computer attack on the Storting. According to information from VG, the Labor Party, the Socialist People’s Party and the Conservative Party are also affected.
Reviewed on Tuesday
PST does not want to comment on whether there is a suspicion that Russia may be behind this. A Russian diplomat was expelled from Norway in August on suspicion of espionage. Russia in response has expelled a Norwegian diplomat in Moscow.
It was on Tuesday that the Storting announced that they had been subjected to a comprehensive cyber attack in which various amounts of data had been downloaded. Several Storting members and employees have had their email accounts hacked.
The computer attack was reported to the police on Tuesday.
‘The Storting has recently been exposed to data breaches, as unauthorized persons have gained unauthorized access to a number of email accounts connected to the Storting’s computer systems. There is reason to believe that unauthorized persons in the data breach have unjustifiably accessed and downloaded information from these email accounts, “it says in the review.
Looking for similar attacks
Mona Strøm Arnøy, Director of Communications and Administration for the National Security Authority (NSM), says they will continue to support the PST and the Storting on the matter.
– We continue to work along various routes, among other things, analyzing data traffic entering and leaving the Storting. We then investigate whether similar types of attacks have occurred elsewhere. We hang out here a lot, both public and private bodies, says Arnøy.
– The task of PST is usually to investigate possible actors. For our part, we will see how the attack was carried out, for example, by reviewing records and data material.
YOU HAVE REPORTED THE CASE: On Tuesday, the Storting presented the police with a report of the cyber attack.
The same night the Storting announced the attack, a data breach was also reported in several municipalities in the Inland. Information manager Trond Øvstedal at NSM denies the attacks are connected.
– We have discovered that there is no connection between them. Otherwise, I cannot go into details of the attacks, Øvstedal tells VG.
