Norway's Security Agency Disclose Hydropower Takeover By Russian Hackers

Russian hackers took control of a Norwegian dam in April 2025, opening a floodgate and allowing water to flow unnoticed for hours, Norway’s intelligence security service has now said. This statement, by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), is the first time that Oslo has said that the cyber-attack in April on Bremanger, western Norway, to Moscow.

The attack on the hydropower dam, which produces electricity, released 500 litres (132 gallons) of water a second for four hours until the incident was detected.The hackers published a three-minute video, with the name of a pro-Russian cyber hacker criminal group, on Telegram on the day of the attack.

The incident did not cause any injuries or damage because the water level of the river and the dam, which is close to the town of Svelgen, was a long way below flood capacity.

Kripos, Norway’s organised crime police unit, told the Aftenposten newspaper it was “aware this group brought together several actors who commit crime in the cyber domain” and had been linked to several cyber-attacks against businesses in the west in recent years. The chief of the PST Beate Gangås said: “Russian intelligence services spend significant resources identifying, cultivating and recruiting contacts in Norway. Norwegian citizens could be good sources of information for them.”

Intelligence security services in Norway, which produces the majority of its electricity using hydropower dams, had previously warned of the potential risk of such attacks on energy infrastructure.

Norway and Russia share a 123-mile (198km) border, with a crossing at Storskog, Europe’s only open Schengen border with Russia. The Russian embassy in Oslo said Gangås’s statements were “unfounded and politically motivated”.    

VG Nyheter  |   Guardian  |  Politico  |  Times  |    Industria Cyber  |  Bleepimg Computer 

Image: Ales Krivec

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