Norway says Russia behind cyber attack against its parliament

 

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Soreide. REUTERS/Orn E. Borgen

 

OSLO (Reuters) - Russia was behind a cyber attack launched against the Norwegian parliament in August, the Norwegian foreign minister said on Tuesday.

 

On Sept. 1, the Norwegian parliament said it had sustained a cyber attack during the previous week and that the email accounts of several lawmakers and employees had been hacked.

 

"Based on the information available to the government, it is our assessment that Russia stood behind this activity," Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a statement.

 

The Russian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment while officials at the embassy in Oslo were not immediately available for comment.

 

When they announced the incident, Norwegian authorities did not say who they thought was behind the attack.

 

"The fact that we go out with an attribution is a strong signal... from Norwegian authorities," Soereide told reporters outside the ministry.

 

Norway wanted to have a pragmatic relationship with Russia, but couldn't accept such attacks against its democratic institutions, she added, when asked whether the attack would have consequences for the relationship between Norway and Russia.

 

"We cannot accept that parliament is the subject of such attacks."

 

Norway, which is a member of NATO, has a border with Russia in the Arctic.

 

(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Nerijus Adomaitis, additional reporting by Moscow bureau; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-14

 

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41 minutes ago, webfact said:

"Based on the information available to the government, it is our assessment that Russia stood behind this activity," Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a statement.

Conclusive evidence and concrete proof then, right?  After all the Pedro and the lobo stuff since 2016 I am naturally suspicious of any seemingly farfetched Russia accusations without evidence. Modern Russia is not an enemy of the west, also not a large economy, and are not enjoying good economic times. That the state would invest large sums to sponsor cyber attacks in an ally(for what possible benefit?), and no smoking gun shown, I will remain sceptical. 

 Just my opinion.

Edited October 13, 20205 yr by TopDeadSenter

8 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Conclusive evidence and concrete proof then, right?  After all the Pedro and the lobo stuff since 2016 I am naturally suspicious of any seemingly farfetched Russia accusations without evidence. Modern Russia is not an enemy of the west, also not a large economy, and are not enjoying good economic times. That the state would invest large sums to sponsor cyber attacks in an ally(for what possible benefit?), and no smoking gun shown, I will remain sceptical. 

 Just my opinion.

Good for you brave Norway don’t tolerate Putin’s bs this lady has more conjones than someone I know bravo stoic Norway bravo!!

I read the book Sandworm recently, a page turning dive into Russian sponsored hacking, and this hack of the Norwegian parliament fits pretty well into the Russian attack pattern.

 

Good read if you are curious.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sandworm-Cyberwar-Kremlins-Dangerous-Hackers-ebook/dp/B07GD4MFW2

12 minutes ago, techietraveller84 said:

I read the book Sandworm recently, a page turning dive into Russian sponsored hacking, and this hack of the Norwegian parliament fits pretty well into the Russian attack pattern.

 

Good read if you are curious.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sandworm-Cyberwar-Kremlins-Dangerous-Hackers-ebook/dp/B07GD4MFW2

Can you summarize the potential benefits the Russian state feels they gain by apparently doing these hacks on foreign sovereign nations and allies?

2 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Can you summarize the potential benefits the Russian state feels they gain by apparently doing these hacks on foreign sovereign nations and allies?

 

They helped Trump to become the president of the US.

They interfere with elections in European countries, trying to steer the outcome in their favor (like they did with Trump).

 

And Russia has almost no allies in Europe. Most people see them as a treat, as the enemy. Which they are. 

 

 

Why don't these countries get some cyber security? 

 

US, England and now Norway. Plenty of anti-virus stuff out there. Baidu is good.

5 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Why don't these countries get some cyber security? 

 

US, England and now Norway. Plenty of anti-virus stuff out there. Baidu is good.

Are you seriously alleging that these countries don't have cyber security? Do you believe that cyber security systems are 100% effective? That there's no such thing as highly sophisticated hacking?

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Conclusive evidence and concrete proof then, right?  After all the Pedro and the lobo stuff since 2016 I am naturally suspicious of any seemingly farfetched Russia accusations without evidence. Modern Russia is not an enemy of the west, also not a large economy, and are not enjoying good economic times. That the state would invest large sums to sponsor cyber attacks in an ally(for what possible benefit?), and no smoking gun shown, I will remain sceptical. 

 Just my opinion.

I’m not in the least surprised by any of that.

 

The list of accusations against Russia from security agencies and governments grows but you come rushing to Russia’s defense.

37 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Are you seriously alleging that these countries don't have cyber security? Do you believe that cyber security systems are 100% effective? That there's no such thing as highly sophisticated hacking?

Well! Some of these countries are moaning and groaning, wimping and whining. They should beef up their security, instead of constantly griping.

 

A few year ago Nth Korea was the bad boy, then China and now Russia; again.

Edited October 14, 20205 yr by owl sees all

47 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Can you summarize the potential benefits the Russian state feels they gain by apparently doing these hacks on foreign sovereign nations and allies?

That’s a ridiculous line of defense.

 

Even if anyone had inside information on the motives of Russia’s secret services, your next line of defense would be ‘show me hard evidence’ or some other such deflection.

 

Nations spy and hack, Russia spies and hacks.

 

They’ve been caught, once again, spying and hacking.

 

 

Dear me. Just as Apple was rolling out its new 5G phone too.

 

Everyone knows the three main suspects in this cyber stuff; and it ain't Russia, China or Nth Korea.

 

At the present time the 'west' is suffering on many fronts. Is this just another thing to get concerned about? To instill a little more fear into the people. Or the eternal cyber 'red herring'. Your turn next Sweden; or Oz.

It isn't really that uncommon for Russia to conduct so-called cyber attacks against Norwegian government facilities and private entities. This is something that's been going on for decades in one form or another. It should also be mentioned that these activities have been gradually declining over the last few years. Stories about such "attacks" usually aren't newsworthy because most intrusion attempts are detected and repelled, and the whole dynamic is rather well-known and not that interesting in the context of the Norwegian news media.

 

Add to that, Norway tries to maintain a cordial relationship with Russia and therefore the government prefer to avoid criticizing Russia for what it considers to be lesser infractions. Basically, Norway's relationship with Russia is similar to Norway's relationship with China, in that China conducts widespread espionage against Norwegian companies and interests in Norway and abroad, but the Norwegian government is very reluctant to criticize China. All of this means that the issues above, as far as Russia and China are concerned, seldom receive major news coverage. 

What's interesting in this news story is that Norwegian government actually went to the press in order to shed light on the Russian activities. That rarely happens and when it does, it's usually because the Norwegian government tries to appear assertive and wishes to gain political favor either among the Norwegian people or allied countries. In this case, probably both because there is an election in Norway next year, as well as an attempt to show solidarity with Germany and the EU in their recent increase of political pressure on Russia. 

Uh .. Norway! Haven't you read the memo? This year it's China bashing year, not Russia!

3 minutes ago, Jack Mountain said:

Uh .. Norway! Haven't you read the memo? This year it's China bashing year, not Russia!

Europe is going to impose sanctions against Russia now because of Navalny´s poisoning. 

 

 

“We have discussed possible elements of a strong EU common response to the use of a prohibited chemical nerve agent, implemented the proposal by France and Germany about restrictive measures against those linked to the assassination attempt of Alexei Navalny,” EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said in a statement on Monday, after the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Luxembourg. 

“There has been a political agreement to implement these restrictive measures that will be done by the technical bodies of the Council,” Borrell added."

 

 

https://www.neweurope.eu/article/eu-to-impose-sanctions-on-russia-over-navalnys-poisoning/

 

 

30 minutes ago, Tagged said:

Europe is going to impose sanctions against Russia now because of Navalny´s poisoning. 

 

 

 

But that's a real thing, not sucked from the thumb .... Oh wait!

1 minute ago, Jack Mountain said:

But that's a real thing, not sucked from the thumb .... Oh wait!

Is a good thing. Puts Putins gas pipe on hold, hopefully terminated, and gives Norway better uppertunities to deliver more gas at a better price. 

2 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Why don't these countries get some cyber security? 

 

US, England and now Norway. Plenty of anti-virus stuff out there. Baidu is good.

Kaspersky would be a better choice, as has been built by the Russian hackers

12 minutes ago, Tagged said:

Is a good thing. Puts Putins gas pipe on hold, hopefully terminated, and gives Norway better uppertunities to deliver more gas at a better price. 

You see? It's all economics!  ... The Rich! economics!!!!

Edited October 14, 20205 yr by Jack Mountain

2 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Dear me. Just as Apple was rolling out its new 5G phone too.

 

Everyone knows the three main suspects in this cyber stuff; and it ain't Russia, China or Nth Korea.

 

At the present time the 'west' is suffering on many fronts. Is this just another thing to get concerned about? To instill a little more fear into the people. Or the eternal cyber 'red herring'. Your turn next Sweden; or Oz.

You even got ‘5G’ in there, itself a target of a Russian misinformation campaign. 

Off-topic graphic removed.   This is a discussion forum.  

7 hours ago, dimitriv said:

 

They helped Trump to become the president of the US.

They interfere with elections in European countries, trying to steer the outcome in their favor (like they did with Trump).

 

And Russia has almost no allies in Europe. Most people see them as a treat, as the enemy. Which they are. 

 

 

 

Any proof? Nah, just the usual bs politically motivated accusations as usual.

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You even got ‘5G’ in there, itself a target of a Russian misinformation campaign. 

 

Sure. Because Russia is the capital of IT intelligence and no other country spies, hacks or tries to influence things in it's favor. 

8 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Can you summarize the potential benefits the Russian state feels they gain by apparently doing these hacks on foreign sovereign nations and allies?

Russia is a rogue nation led by a dictator and thug.

 

When they are caught they lie with gusto and otherwise revert to it wasn't us because you have not conclusively shown proof. I believe it was Russia and hiding behind their only defence of "prove it" or we are innocent. Whilst russia never ever give evidence or join in investigations - just look at their lack of engagement with german request to respond on navalney questions. Non engagement when it suits and howls of criticism and fairy tale stories when caught. 

 

Thoroughly barbaric leadership from a dictator who clings to power. One day the opposition who have not been poisoned or otherwise killed or subjugated will win out.

 

Just so many examples and being caught red handed on occasions like the Scandinavian lab checking the uk novichok test finding that anything the russians say we know is just lies. Russia needs to be renamed bare faced liar land!

Edited October 14, 20205 yr by twix38

8 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Can you summarize the potential benefits the Russian state feels they gain by apparently doing these hacks on foreign sovereign nations and allies?

if you care to look, Norway and Russia are neighbours. says enough doesn't it?

9 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Conclusive evidence and concrete proof then, right?  After all the Pedro and the lobo stuff since 2016 I am naturally suspicious of any seemingly farfetched Russia accusations without evidence. Modern Russia is not an enemy of the west, also not a large economy, and are not enjoying good economic times. That the state would invest large sums to sponsor cyber attacks in an ally(for what possible benefit?), and no smoking gun shown, I will remain sceptical. 

 Just my opinion.

How is the weather in Moscow? 

5 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Sure. Because Russia is the capital of IT intelligence and no other country spies, hacks or tries to influence things in it's favor. 

The ‘all encompassing’ whataboutary pops it’s head up.

Post with an unattributed quote has been removed.  

 

13 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Can you summarize the potential benefits the Russian state feels they gain by apparently doing these hacks on foreign sovereign nations and allies?

 

with all the talk of chessmaster putin being an evil genius, you'd think he'd wait until AFTER he gets nordstream 2 completed to continue his malign activities.

 

fortunately, there's no way to leave false fingerprints in malware..........