The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) says that pro-Russian hackers have taken control of critical control systems with a dam and open current valves open.
The attack took place in April and is supposed to have been a demonstration of Russia’s ability to remotely hack critical infrastructure in the country.
On the Arendalsuka annual National Forum in the city of Arendal, the head of the PST, Beate Gangås, talked about the incident that it was less an attempt to cause damage than a representation of what the hackers can do.
“They do not necessarily want to cause destruction, but to show what they are capable of,” said Gangås during her speech about the Sabotage Operation.
“The purpose of these types of action is to exert influence and to create fear or unrest in the population,” the PST chef also explained and noticed that Russia has become more dangerous.
According to Local media reportsThe Hackers compromised a digital system that arranged the water flow at the Bremanger -Dam and set up the outflow valve to open the position.
It took Dam Operators about four hours to discover and reverse the malignant valve setting. However, by that time, more than 7.2 million liters (1.9 million liters) had flown through.
Norwegian National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos) reached the The same conclusion In June, based on videos that Russian Hacktivists published about the Telegram Messaging Service to prove their burglary.
In particular, the Hacktivists published a three-minute video with the Dam Control Panel, with a watermark associated with a pro-Russian cyber criminal group.
Such actions are previously associated with groups such as sandworm (APT44) sponsored by the government, and aimed at exaggerating impact claims to create anxiety and uncertainty, and to publicly humiliate in the context of compromised organizations.
This is the second time that Russia is associated with attacks on Norwegian entities, the previous one is a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) raid on the state services of the country.
The intelligence commissioner of Norway, Nils Andreas Stenønes, stated that, although Norway is not at war with Russia, President Putin maintained tension through hybrid attacks on the entire West.
Stensønes characterized Russia as an unpredictable neighbor and the largest Curret threat that Norway is confronted with.
46% of the environments had cracked passwords, almost doubled from 25% last year.
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