Hit by cyberattack, Norway suspects pro-Russian hackers
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The attacks come days after Russia threatened to take “retaliatory measures” after Norway imposed sanctions, blocking goods destined for Russian-populated settlements on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard
Norway was hit by a cyberattack that temporarily shut down websites of several private and public institutions. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said that the attack “has not caused any significant damage” to his knowledge.
In the last 24 hours, a number of institutions, including the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, were subjected to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyberattack, the Norwegian National Security Authority said.
The aortitis believe that pro-Russian hackers might be responsible for this attack.
"We are working to find out whether there is a link with state-sponsored actors," NSM chief Sofie Nystroem later told broadcaster TV2.
"We are quite certain that no sensitive information was taken."
The attacks come days after Russia threatened to take “retaliatory measures” after Norway imposed sanctions, blocking goods destined for Russian-populated settlements on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
Norwegian media reported that the country’s ambassador to Moscow was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday for a complaint over Russian supplies being prevented from transiting via Norway to an Arctic Russian coal-mining settlement.
Svalbard, located midway between Norway’s north coast and the North Pole, is part of Norway, but Russia has the right to exploit the archipelago’s natural resources under a treaty signed in 1920, and some settlements on the archipelago are populated mainly by Russians.
Norway, which is not in the European Union but enforces EU sanctions against Russia, has said sanctions would not affect the transport of goods by ship to Svalbard.
Norway’s restrictions have disrupted the work of the Russian consulate-general on Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, and a Russian coal mining settlement there, the Russian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
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Moscow has long wanted a bigger say in the archipelago, which it insists on calling Spitsbergen rather than the Norwegian Svalbard and has been a haunt of its hunters, whalers and fishermen since the 16th century.
(With inputs from agencies)
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