Cyberattack halts construction of tunnel between Denmark and Germany

A cyberattack has halted the construction of a road-and-rail tunnel under the Fehmarn Belt strait, which was supposed to link Denmark and Germany. The attack, reported by RMF24, disrupted the operations of the international FLC consortium responsible for the project. The incident caused workers' ID cards to become inoperable, while vessels, cranes, and platforms used for offshore work were also immobilized.

Consequently, construction work has been completely halted. The FLC consortium, comprising around 2,800 employees from Danish, German, French, Belgian, and Dutch companies, with a significant number of Polish workers, was directly affected. The project, estimated to cost about €7 billion, involves constructing the 18-kilometer tunnel from 89 concrete elements transported and connected at sea using digital software.

Its initial opening date of 2029 has been delayed due to the recent cyberattack, and the perpetrator or the duration to resolve the attack consequences remains unknown. Henning Mortensen, head of Denmark's Council for Digital Security, has not ruled out the possibility of the incident being linked to hybrid warfare. Danish services have been warning of potential cyberattacks from Russia, raising the threat level to high.