Finland Faces The Online Threat From Russia

Uploaded on 2023-10-30 in INTELLIGENCE-Hot Spots-Russia, GOVERNMENT-National, FREE TO VIEW

Finland has been experiencing increasing online espionage attacks from Russia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Finish security and intelligence services have said. Russia treats Finland as a hostile country, according to a report published by the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, SUPO.

Its main theme concerns Finland's deteriorating relationship with its enormous neighbour, with which it shares a long land border.

SUPO said they face various threats from Russia, including cyber attacks and on-line disinformation. It added that Russia was one of the most active perpetrators of intelligence operations targeting Finland, amid increased tensions after the country’s accession to Nato and the war in Ukraine.

“Russia’s espionage attempts towards us have increased during the war, mainly in the cybersphere,” Suvi Alvari, a senior analyst for SUPO told reporters.

Russia is understood to be shifting the focus of its intelligence collection to online activities after the expulsion of several diplomats from Helsinki. In June, the Finnish president announced the country was expelling 9 employees from the Russian embassy, saying “their actions were contrary to the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations”.
Norway and Sweden have also expelled Russians in recent months amid claims they were intelligence officers.
“There are quite a few immediate security issues or threats from Russia at this moment,” Alvari said. “We see that Russia has increased motivation for intelligence towards us.” Further cyberattacks were likely, she added.

Significant areas of Russian interest include Finnish NATO membership, support for Ukraine, and sanctions evasion through Finland.

“It’s obvious Russia has the capability in the cybersphere so we’re prepared,” Alvari said. “We assess that it’s likely that Russia will continue to use denial of service attacks when hackers make information systems, devices and other resources inaccessible to legitimate users towards us.”

Finland's immediate neighbour, Sweden, which is in the process of joining NATO following the attempted invasion of Ukraine also faces increased threats of cyber warfare from Russia.

Swedish authorities have also revealed that an undersea telecommunications cable between their country and Estonia had also been hit. The Swedish armed forces’ cyber defence chief, General Johan Pekkari, told Swedish TV that the country was experiencing “increased activity in the cyber domain” and preparing to protect critical infrastructure from future cyber attacks. With elections in Russia and Finland scheduled next spring, security services are in Finland and Sweden are on the alert to potential interference.

SUPO: YLE: digwatch: Guardian: GROUND: Reddit: YCombinator: Otherweb: Tildes:

You Might Also Read:

Estonia Fears Cyber Attacks Will Rise Because Of War In Ukraine:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

If you like this website and use the comprehensive 6,500-plus service supplier Directory, you can get unrestricted access, including the exclusive in-depth Directors Report series, by signing up for a Premium Subscription.