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Norway's digital services hit by major cyber attack
🇳🇴 Norway /Technology

Norway's digital services hit by major cyber attack

From Aftenposten · () Norwegian

Translated from Norwegian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Public digital services in Norway, including pharmacies, were hit by a large-scale data attack on August 3.
  • The attack targeted the ID-porten system, causing a denial-of-service, according to the Digitalization Directorate.
  • Security experts note that such attacks are a known challenge for digital service providers and difficult to prevent.

Norway's public digital services faced a significant data attack early on August 3, disrupting systems including pharmacies and the crucial ID-porten authentication service. The Digitalization Directorate confirmed a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack overwhelmed the ID-porten system, which is managed by their partner, Vivicta.

A DDoS attack works by flooding a website, server, or network with fake traffic from numerous machines simultaneously, rendering the service inaccessible to legitimate users. This type of cyber threat is a persistent challenge for all entities providing digital services, and effective protection remains difficult, according to cybersecurity experts.

A known challenge for all who deliver digital services, and which is unfortunately difficult to protect against.

— DigitaliseringsdirektoratetThe Digitalization Directorate's statement on the data attack.

The incident highlights the ongoing vulnerability of digital infrastructure to sophisticated cyber threats. While the full extent of the impact is still being assessed, the disruption to essential services like the ID-porten system underscores the critical need for robust cybersecurity measures.

A denial-of-service attack (DDoS) that affects ID-porten, which is operated by Digdir's operating partner Vivicta.

— DigitaliseringsdirektoratetDescribing the nature of the attack on the ID-porten system.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Aftenposten in Norwegian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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