Sofie Nystrøm, head of NSM, tells Dagens Næringsliv that the attack is more potent than what they saw when 12 ministries were attacked this summer. NSM asks companies to update the affected software. – NSM has been aware of a very serious vulnerability in a Cisco product (Cisco IOS XE) for some time. There have been cases of active exploitation of the vulnerability in Norway. A security update was released last night that closes the vulnerability, and NSM encourages all businesses that use Cisco IOS XE to update their systems as soon as possible, writes Deputy Director Gullik Gundersen in NSM to news. The vulnerability exists in switches, routers and other devices with a web-based management interface. If attackers manage to exploit it, they quickly gain full administrator rights, writes digi.no. Cisco itself released information about the vulnerability on Monday. Serious gaps On Friday, Dagens Næringsliv wrote that the National Security Authority (NSM) is sounding the alarm about serious gaps in Norway’s digital security. The new report also shows that the preparedness to deal with extensive cyber attacks against Norway has major shortcomings. It is about a new “zero-day vulnerability”, that is, a digital threat that no one knows about before, and which is thus both more difficult to detect and to combat. The confirmation means that Norwegian businesses are once again hit by serious attacks with such tools, which were attributed to state-funded threat actors this summer, and which this time are “more potent” than the previous ones, according to Nystrøm. – We want the suppliers to provide updates, and we coordinate internationally. It is not quiet in the cyber domain. On the contrary, says Nystrøm. Twelve ministries exposed to computer attacks In July this year, the Departments’ Security and Service Organization (DSS) uncovered a computer attack on the ICT platform of twelve ministries. All of the twelve ministries were then affected by several zero-day vulnerabilities. The case surrounding the computer attack was dismissed earlier in October. In a report published in August this year, it emerged that hackers had access to a data platform used by the government so that they could obtain information from April to July 2023. The access was used to obtain information from several Norwegian organizations. In addition, it was used to gain access to and compromise a Norwegian government network, the report stated.
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Cyber attack against Norway – NSM asks businesses to update systems – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
