Pro-Russian hackers claim responsibility for major cyberattack on Norway’s public digital services

Oslo, Norway (AP) — A pro-Russian hacker group announced Wednesday it was responsible for a cyberattack that has disrupted numerous Norwegian government digital services over the past three days. Are Kvistad, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Digitalization Agency, stated the assault was the most significant attack against Digdir solutions the agency has encountered.

The denial-of-service attacks flooded the agency with excessive traffic to impede services, including a platform allowing citizens to utilize a single login across multiple public services. Despite the attacks, the agency managed to maintain most services "practically all the time." The pro-Russian hacker group Server Killers claimed responsibility on Wednesday via a Telegram post, declaring cyber war on Norway after the country renewed its security collaboration with Ukraine on August 23.

The collaboration, announced by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, involves providing 85 billion Norwegian crowns (approximately 9.2 billion US dollars) to Ukraine for the third consecutive year in next year's budget. The group also pledged further cooperation in drone technology and other modern warfare forms. Norwegian officials did not comment on the hackers' claim.