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Norway investigates cyberattack affecting 12 government ministries

https://therecord.media/norway-investigates-cyberattack-affecting-government-ministries

The Norwegian police are investigating a cyberattack uncovered earlier this month that affected the IT systems used by a dozen government ministries.

Norway’s Office of the Prime Minister, as well as its foreign, defense, and justice ministries, were not affected by the hack because they use a different IT platform, said Erik Hope, head of the government agency in charge of providing security and services to the ministries, during a press briefing on Monday.

According to Hope, the hackers exploited a now-patched vulnerability in the platform of one of the government’s suppliers. The government’s security specialists identified the attack following “unusual” traffic on the supplier’s platform. Hope declined to provide more details until the investigation is over.

The attack didn’t disrupt the government’s operation. As a result of the hack, employees of several Norwegian ministries couldn’t access some shared services on their mobile phones, including email, but they could still use work devices without issue, Norwegian cybersecurity officials said.