Norwegian officials have speculated that members of Parliament fell victim to a cyber-attack. They believe the attack was carried out by Russian state-sponsored threat actors. The attack was used to target government officials in different political parties in Norway to steal information such as email account credentials. No technical evidence has been released from Norwegian officials about the attack. There have been no comments from the Russian embassy in the US and the Russian embassy in Oslo called the allegations “unacceptable.”
Analyst Notes
Russia has a long track record of targeting different countries around election time and using various techniques to steal information. Standard practice for Russia is to always deny these allegations stating that the country did not have any part in the attacks. Norway is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which Russia has seen as a threat to them for many years. This attack is not the first time Russia and Norway have butted heads. Tensions between Russia and Norway have been increasing since August when a Russian Diplomat was expelled for their relation to an espionage case. In retaliation, a Norwegian diplomat was expelled by Russia days later. Russian media is stating that Norway is taking on the host role for NATO’s militarization of the Artic, which Russia obviously sees as a threat and it is possible Russia will use this as justification for actions moving forward.
Source: https://www.cyberscoop.com/norway-russia-parliament-hack-espionage/
