Norway Reports Tripling of Successful Cyberattacks in Six Months

Norway's National Security Authority (NSM) said on Tuesday that the number of successful cyberattacks targeting Norwegian organisations had trebled in the last six months as it warned of a continued threat to national security.

In a new report, the NSM, which is involved in efforts to counter espionage and hybrid threats, said the country's defence industry and space sector were particularly exposed to cyber risk. It said this also applied to critical infrastructure and service providers to organisations important to national security.

Director Arne Christian Haugstøyl said the NSM had not previously made this type of assessment public, and that it was doing so now because it was absolutely necessary to strengthen both the resilience and the ability to handle cyber operations in Norwegian organisations.

The NSM did not point to a specific actor but said certain businesses and organisations were being increasingly subjected to reconnaissance and ransomware and DDoS attacks. The agency also warned of the threat posed by artificial intelligence technology, which it said posed a serious risk to Norwegian businesses and organisations.

Haugstøyl said AI analyzes large amounts of data and identifies vulnerabilities faster than humans have been able to, opening up new opportunities for cyberattacks at a faster pace and on a larger scale, and that the pace at which security measures are implemented must be accelerated.