The pro-Russian hacking group Server Killers has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that has disrupted several Norwegian government digital services since Monday, including a system that allows citizens to access multiple public services through a single login.
The attack was still ongoing on Wednesday and involved a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) campaign, in which large volumes of traffic are directed at targeted systems in an attempt to overwhelm and block them.
Are Kvistad, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (Digdir), told The Associated Press that it was “the largest attack on Digdir’s solutions that we have ever experienced.”
Although the attack targeted a service used by citizens to access multiple government platforms, Kvistad said the agency had managed to keep its systems operating for virtually the entire duration of the incident.
Norwegian authorities had not commented on the hackers’ claim of responsibility at the time of publication.
Server Killers said on Telegram on Wednesday that it had launched what it described as a “cyber war” against Norway after Oslo renewed its security cooperation with Ukraine on August 23.
During a visit to Kyiv on Sunday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced that Norway would allocate 85 billion Norwegian kroner, or approximately $9.2 billion, for Ukraine from its next national budget, marking the third consecutive year of major financial support.
Norway and Ukraine also agreed to expand cooperation on drone technology and other forms of modern warfare.
European governments have remained on heightened alert since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, amid an increase in sabotage, cyberattacks and other hostile activities across the continent.
Norwegian authorities said earlier this year that Russian hackers were likely behind a suspected act of sabotage targeting a dam, in which attackers compromised a digital system used to remotely control a valve and increased the flow of water.
Norwegian media have also reported that Server Killers has been directly or indirectly linked to previous cyberattacks in Norway and other European countries.
