Pro-Russian Hackers Target Norwegian Government in Cyberattack
A pro-Russian hacker group has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that has significantly impacted various Norwegian government digital services over the past three days. The attack, which began on Monday, was confirmed by Are Kvistad, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Digitalization Agency (Digdir), the agency responsible for enhancing the digital accessibility of public services in Norway. Kvistad stated that this incident represents the largest attack the agency has ever faced.
The cyberattack employed denial-of-service tactics, which involved flooding the agency's systems with massive amounts of traffic to disrupt services, including a platform that allows citizens to access multiple public services with a single login. Despite the severity of the attack, Kvistad noted that the agency managed to maintain service availability for the most part.
In a Telegram post reported by Norwegian media, the hacker group, known as Server Killers, announced their responsibility for the attack, declaring a cyber war on Norway in response to the country's renewed security cooperation with Ukraine on August 23. This cooperation includes a commitment from Norway to provide 85 billion Norwegian crowns (approximately 9.2 billion US dollars) to Ukraine from the upcoming state budget for a third consecutive year, as announced by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre during a visit to Kyiv.
Norwegian officials have not commented on the hackers' claims as of the publication time. The incident occurs amid heightened alert across Europe, with Russian activities increasing since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Officials believe these cyberattacks aim to undermine support for Ukraine and create discord within European societies.
In 2025, Norwegian authorities indicated that Russian hackers were likely involved in sabotage at a dam, where they accessed a digital control system and manipulated water flow. Additionally, Danish authorities have attributed cyberattacks against their infrastructure to Russian groups in recent years, further highlighting the ongoing threat posed by state-backed hackers in the region. Reports suggest that Server Killers have been linked to previous cyber incidents in Norway and other European nations.
