Her selges dataangrep for noen hundrelapper

Cyberattacks are increasingly becoming a major concern for Norwegian businesses, according to Thomas Dahl, a partner and leader for digital forensics at BDO. The company works closely with Norwegian enterprises to provide cybersecurity guidance. Recently, there has been a surge in news stories about attacks on retailers and payment systems, which highlights the growing danger.

On the dark web, there is a proliferation of so-called "crime as a service" offerings related to data crime. Thanks to AI-driven attack tools, technology that was once limited to advanced actors is now accessible to many more individuals. BDO, which operates a dedicated data investigation division, reveals to E24 just how easy it is to gain entry and examples of what can be purchased.

One section offers a team of 13 hackers for various illegal cyber services, including phone hacking for $499, website hacking for $249, and DDoS attacks for $39.

The group appears to have earned a rating of 4.95 out of 5 stars from thousands of users. If these testimonials are to be believed, business owners with competing rivals among their buyers of illegal services. Dahl warns that the most alarming aspect is not that these services exist, but how professionally and easily they are marketed. "It has never been easier or cheaper to attack Norwegian businesses. You no longer need to be an advanced hacker. You can purchase capacity, tools, and services from others," he says.

Now, the holiday season is entering its most critical period with "black week" and subsequent holiday shopping. This creates an additional vulnerability, according to Dahl. "Downtime costs never more than now. If an online store goes down during Black Friday, some may lose a few hours, but that can cripple one of the year's biggest sales days.

Besides just taking down a website, there are more sophisticated methods. These typically aim to make money, such as hacking into an e-commerce site, encrypting systems, and demanding payment for access to be restored."

While exact figures on data attacks targeting Norwegian businesses daily are hard to determine, Dahl notes that payments have been made without naming any individuals. "We don't have any empirical evidence on that, but we know that attacks are increasing around holiday shopping and other major shopping periods," he says. The exact number of attacks against Norwegian companies each day is impossible to say.

BDO advises businesses to prioritize readiness given the rapid reduction of risk. The National Security Agency (NSM) notes that the holiday season is a time when businesses can be particularly vulnerable to digital threats. They recently publicized that the threat situation has worsened, citing concerns about compromise attempts, ransomware attacks, payment fraud, and denial-of-service attacks.