Russia hacked and took control of a Norwegian dam, police chief claims — released over 1,900,000 gallons of water before attack was noticed

The head of Norway’s Police Security Service (PST) has told the media that Moscow is to blame for a cyberattack on a dam, which remotely opened the floodgates. According to a Guardian report, the actions of an unnamed crew of pro-Russian cyber-felons released 500 liters (132 gallons) of water a second, sustained for around four hours before it was noticed and stopped. Beate Gangås, the head of PST, mentioned the Bremanger Dam attack as an example of the escalating action of Russia-backed cyber actors.

Russia aims “to cause fear and chaos.”

Norway gets the majority of its electricity from hydropower generation facilities. In this case, however, the dam that was hacked was primarily used for fish farming. Luckily, there were no injuries or damage reported as a result of the gushing dam. The source report notes that in April, when the hack took place, the water level in the river fed by the dam was “a long way below flood capacity.” Had the weather circumstances been different, the folk in the nearby town of Svelgen could have been in peril.

“The aim of this type of operation is to influence and to cause fear and chaos among the general population,” said Gangås on Wednesday. “Our Russian neighbor has become more dangerous.”

Though this act has now been officially attributed as being Russia state-sponsored by Norway, there was already quite strong evidence pointing East. The source report indicates that the hacking group behind the dam attack comprised individuals who had been linked to several other cyberattacks on the West. Moreover, the alleged perpetrators published a three-minute video on social media on the day of the dam water spilling attack. The video had a pro-Russian cybercriminal group watermark on it.

Russians responds

Readers will not be surprised that the Russian embassy in Oslo characterized Gangås’s statements as unfounded. A statement published on X went on to assert that “It is obvious that the PST is unsuccessfully trying to substantiate the mythical threat of Russian sabotage against Norwegian infrastructure this year, which it itself invented in its February report.”

Despite such denials, Russia has repeatedly threatened those who support Ukraine, even going so far as issuing explicit nuclear warnings. A significant amount of this saber-rattling is attributed to former President Dmitry Medvedev.

Actually, the Nordic countries seem to have faced more than their fair share of Russian coercion, with specific warnings given to Finland and Sweden against joining NATO. The warnings obviously fell on deaf ears, as both these countries are now full NATO members. Finland and Norway have the added hazard of land borders with Russia, which extend to 830 miles and 121 miles, respectively.

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