Twelve ministries exposed to computer attacks – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

– We take this incident very seriously. DSS works closely with the National Security Authority and the police. They have implemented a number of measures to deal with the attack, and we are following the situation closely, says Municipal and District Minister Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (Sp). The Minister for Municipalities and Districts will brief the Storting’s extended Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the matter. – It is important to stress that the government’s work is going on as normal. DSS has initiated a number of security measures to secure the information on the ICT platform. Additional security measures may be necessary. This will be assessed continuously, says Gjelsvik. Crisis staff DSS has set up a crisis staff and investigates and handles the incident with assistance from the National Security Authority (NSM) and other security environments. – We have uncovered a previously unknown vulnerability in the software of one of our suppliers. This vulnerability has been exploited by an unknown actor. We have now closed this vulnerability. It is too early to say anything about who is behind it and the extent of the attack. Our investigations and the police’s investigation will be able to provide more answers, says Erik Hope, director of the Departments’ Security and Service Organization (DSS). The incident has been reported and is being investigated by the police. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority has been notified. No access DSS has initiated a number of security measures. The consequence of one of these security measures is that employees in the twelve ministries now do not have access to DSS’s common mobile services. This applies to e-mail, among other things. The employees can still work as normal on their computers in the office or at home. – We monitor the systems continuously, and we introduce further measures if necessary. For the sake of the investigation, we cannot give out more information at this time, says Hope. The ICT platform of DSS is used by all ministries except the Prime Minister’s office, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



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