Pro-Russian hackers claim responsibility for major cyberattack on
Norway's public digital services
[August 27, 2026]
OSLO, Norway (AP) — A pro-Russian hacker group on
Wednesday claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that has affected
multiple Norwegian government digital services over the past three days.
The cyberattack has been ongoing since Monday, said Are Kvistad, a
spokesperson for the Norwegian Digitalization Agency (Digdir), the state
body in charge of making Norway's public services more digital and
user-friendly, told The Associated Press.
“It's the biggest attack against Digdir solutions that we have ever
experienced,” Kvistad said.
The denial-of-service attacks meant that hackers pushed massive traffic
toward the agency in order to block services, including one that enables
citizens to use one login across multiple public services.
However, the Digdir spokesman said that the agency managed to keep the
services running “practically all the time.”
In a Telegram post on Wednesday widely reported by Norwegian media, the
pro-Russian hacker group Server Killers claimed responsibility for the
attack and said it had declared cyber war on Norway after the country
renewed its security cooperation with Ukraine on Aug. 23.
On Sunday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced during a
visit to Kyiv that Norway would provide 85 billion Norwegian crowns (9.2
billion US dollars) to Ukraine from next year’s state budget for a third
year in a row.
The two countries also committed to further cooperation when it comes to
drone technology and other forms of modern warfare.
Norwegian officials did not comment on the hackers' claim by publication
time.
All countries in Europe are on high alert with Russia stepping up its
sabotage and malign activity across the continent since Moscow’s
full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Officials say the
attacks are intended to undermine support for Ukraine, spread fear and
discord in European societies and drain investigative resources.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy greets Norway's Prime
Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere ahead of the flag-raising ceremony to
mark the National Flag Day in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 23, 2026. (AP
Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
In 2025, Norwegian authorities said Russian hackers were likely
behind suspected sabotage at a dam in the country. During that
incident, hackers gained access to a digital system which remotely
controls one of the dam’s valves and opened it to increase the water
flow. A three-minute long video showing the dam’s control panel and
a mark identifying a pro-Russian cybercriminal group was published
on Telegram at the time, the police said.
Last year, Danish authorities blamed Russia for carrying out
cyberattacks against infrastructure and websites in Denmark in 2024
and 2025. Danish officials said pro-Russian group Z-Pentest carried
out a “destructive attack” on the water utility company in 2024 and
that a separate group, NoName057(16), was responsible for a
cyberattack on Danish websites ahead of the 2025 local elections.
Voth have links to the Russian state, they said.
According to Norwegian media, Server Killers were linked directly or
indirectly to previous cyberattacks in Norway and other European
countries.
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