The roof of the Russian embassy in Drammensveien 74 in Oslo does not look like any other roof in Norway’s capital. 8 satellite dishes, radio masts, and a mysterious shed on the roof set it apart from other rooftops in the city. Russia has extensive capacity to conduct signals intelligence in Norway, confirms the head of PST’s counterintelligence, Inger Haugland, in an interview with news. – Signal intelligence is important for Russia. The country has a significant signals intelligence capacity in Norway. And we know that Russia has used embassies and consulates in other countries to carry out signals intelligence, says Haugland. – Who has been talking to whom? PST is concerned about the Russian capacity to conduct signals intelligence from the embassy, and how the information they receive may be used. – An imaginary example could be that it becomes known that an important political decision has been taken in Norway that is of importance to Russia. It is then interesting to be able to go in and see who has spoken to whom, where they have been when they spoke together and so on. And perhaps also the content of those conversations, that will obviously provide a lot of information to Russia, says Haugland to news. Inger Haugland leads PST’s work with counterintelligence. Photo: Tom Balgaard Last week it became known that Norway has declared 15 Russian intelligence officers who are here under diplomatic cover undesirable. From what news understands, several of the 15 intelligence officers worked with signals intelligence. Signal intelligence (SIGINT) is an intelligence discipline based on the interception of signals, for example by radio reconnaissance. Read also: Here, a Russian agent is caught red-handed in Norway This is how they work The intelligence officers at the embassy work both outside Norwegian society, including recruiting Norwegian sources and resource persons. But many of them also work inside the embassy with signals intelligence, according to what news understands. Some work in technical support functions inside the embassy. They record audio and video when agents are out and meeting Norwegian sources. So someone sits inside the embassy and receives and processes. Russia also has mobile support functions in cars, which also record meetings with Norwegian sources. Or they are out doing counter-intelligence, making sure that the coast is clear, that PST is not in place, for example, ahead of a meeting. For all this, the equipment on the roof of the embassy can be useful. The Russian embassy in Oslo, seen from the sea side. On the roof there is a lot of technical equipment and antennas. Photo: Tomm W. Christiansen / news Fake mobile towers From what news understands, Russia also has the capacity to know which mobile phones are in a certain area, for example near the embassy. Using technology that sets up fake mobile masts, so-called “IMSI catchers”, from the embassy or via mobile devices. This is technology that will appear as legitimate mobile towers to all nearby phones, so that all or part of all mobile traffic is leaked to the IMSI catcher. It is very difficult to detect. The purpose is to be able to find out if the mobile phone of interesting people is nearby. And it can be used to be able to install eavesdropping programs on the phone. The same should have been discovered in Copenhagen This is equipment that Russian intelligence has used in the past, according to sources. news is aware that a Russian operation has been uncovered in Copenhagen where fake mobile masts were used. Danish journalists, with whom news collaborated for the documentary “Shadow War”, have had this explained to them by intelligence sources. A few years ago it was discovered near a major political event in Copenhagen. An identified Russian vehicle with an IMSI catcher inside drove by. According to the sources, the purpose was to eavesdrop on telephone conversations, intercept messages and get an overview of who was present at the meeting. It is not known to the journalists whether the intelligence operation was successful. – Obviously has a potential for damage – We are obviously concerned about the signals intelligence capacity that Russia also has in Norway, says Inger Haugland in PST. – Why? – Signal intelligence is a way of gathering information that is important for Russia and provides a lot of information. Being able to see and understand who is talking together, and what they are talking about, obviously has the potential for damage, says Inger Haugland. – Is there something you can do something about? Do you have any authority to stop it? – I will not comment on that. Shed on the roof On top of the residential part of the embassy, where the technical equipment is located, a shed has been built. In the pictures, several wires go into this shed. None of the experts news has spoken to are able to say what this shed contains. Nor does PST want to say anything about it. Photo: Tomm W. Christiansen / news But in a survey that the Swedish newspaper Expressen has done together with the Dossier Center and other European newspapers, it appears that Western security services believe similar sheds on the roofs of Russian embassies hide espionage equipment. The mapping shows that in 11 EU countries there is such a shed on the roofs of Russian embassies. From what news understands, PST is also concerned about what is inside the shed at the embassy, and that the suspicion is, as in other European countries, that the shed contains equipment for eavesdropping and surveillance. Russia is very concerned with protecting and hiding what is in the shed. That is according to what news understands PST’s assessment. Interfering with radio signals news has shown the images we have taken from the roof of the Russian embassy to various expert circles on signal intelligence in Norway. One of them is Orlogsmeister Johnny Grøneng Aase at Forsvarets høyskole – Cyberengineering School, an expert in satellite communications. He divides what he sees into three themes Satellite dishes There are eight satellite dishes on the roof. They stand at a slightly different angle. There is really nothing mysterious about it. It comes from talking to different satellites, so that the embassy can take down Russian television and receive and send large files, independent of Norwegian cables and western satellites and straight home to Moscow via satellite. Parabolic antennas These satellite dishes mean that Russia has control over the entire value chain . Parabolic antennas can potentially be used to eavesdrop on traffic from communication satellites that are read down in the Oslo area. Antenna to disrupt signals? On the ridge of the shed on the roof is a so-called yagi antenna. It is a directional antenna, which works best in a specific direction. It can be used to interfere with other radio signals in the area, if directed in the right direction. Weak signals are amplified. Antenna to disrupt signals? When you transmit with such antennas, all the radio energy is also sent in a specific direction. This means that you use less energy to reach the receiver, and it becomes more difficult to pick up your radio signals from other directions. At the same time, you avoid disturbing others who use the same frequency in the vicinity. Spare connection On the far left, there is a long rod that looks like it is part of an HF (High Frequency, frequency range 3–30 MHz) antenna. This is a robust backup connection, which is probably used if the satellite connection fails. It does not take as much traffic, but it is a good backup solution. It is a good practice not to rely solely on one type of connection. Nils Kalstad, head of the department for information security and communication technology at NTNU, has also assessed the images for news, and agrees with the assessments of Johnny Grøneng Aase. Johnny Grøneng Aase is an expert in signals intelligence. Photo: Defense news has also asked the Dossier Center to compare the antenna park in Oslo to what they have seen in other European countries. The analysis was made by a former employee of a European security service that specializes in signals intelligence. The conclusion is that “compared to the number of antennas on other embassy buildings in other countries, Oslo has a large number of satellite dishes”. Eavesdropping of mobile phone conversations But can Russia eavesdrop on the content of mobile phone conversations from the roof or in other ways? PST confirms that Russia can also intercept content in mobile phone calls. Photo: Tom Balgaard Inger Haugland in PST answers the question in this way. – At least we know that it is a capacity that Russia has. They have stationary capacities, i.e. capacities mounted on fixed houses and buildings. And they have capabilities that are mobile, which can be in, for example, cars, where you can drive around and pick up signals, such as mobile traffic. – Being able to pick up who is talking to whom, and also the content of a conversation, will be part of the capacity that we must assume that Russia has in terms of signals intelligence. -Also in Norway? – We believe that it is part of the capacity that Russia has, and which they can and most likely will use against Norway as well, says Haugland. Russia: False information news has sent the allegations in this case to the Russian embassy in Oslo. They write in an e-mail that “Statements that news refers to in its article are rumors and fakes, which the embassy does not comment on. The Norwegian authorities are well aware that similar satellite and radio electronic equipment have been installed in embassies of other countries. If you are inclined about spreading such false information, we cannot prevent news from doing so”, the embassy screams in the e-mail to news.
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Russia intercepts Norwegian mobile phone calls from the roof of the Russian embassy in Oslo – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
