Cyber-attack on the Norwegian Parliament: "It was Russia"

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The August cyber-attack on deputies and employees of the Norwegian parliament was the work of Russia. This was supported by Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide. The accusation in the Kremlin comes from a NATO member who shares Arctic borders with Moscow.

On September 1, Oslo made public a cyber attack, which would have happened the week before. Half of the Norwegian parliament's e-mail accounts had been hacked.

Eriksen Søreide said, based on the information collected, we can say that Moscow was behind it. The fact that we make the person responsible public is a strong signal from the Norwegian authorities.

Within days of the violation suffered by Parliament, 10,000 employees of the public company Hedmark, which offers IT services to local administrations, were no longer able to access their e-mails. It is not confirmed, but it would appear that the two facts have something in common.

Eriksen Søreide said, this is a very serious incident, affecting our most important democratic institution. This is the first time that Oslo has publicly claimed that Russia is responsible for interference. The security and intelligence services are working closely together to address this issue at the national level.

Norwegian intelligence (NIS) had already launched an alert against Russian operations seeking to fuel the discord between Northern Norway and Oslo.

NIS official Morten Haga Lunde said, the Kremlin tries to exploit any problems that might create a split.

The attacks may want to undermine citizens' trust in authorities, intelligence's annual Focus 2020 report says. An important Norwegian port on the Arctic, Tromsø, was recently expanded to accommodate US nuclear submarines and give them the ability to keep an eye on Russia's North Atlantic fleet. A clear signal to Russia of the American presence in the region. Tromso has long been a military hotspot, given its proximity to the Russian Kola Peninsula, home to Moscow's mighty Northern Fleet.