Overview

• Beate Gangås, head of the Police Security Service, attributed the April 7 breach at the Bremanger dam to Russian or pro-Russian hackers in Oslo’s first official attribution of the incident.
• Hackers remotely opened a floodgate for about four hours, releasing roughly 500 liters of water per second before the intrusion was detected and halted without causing injuries.
• A three-minute video posted on Telegram showing the dam’s control panel and a pro-Russian group insignia provided key evidence supporting the attribution.
• Gangås said such hybrid cyberattacks aim to instill fear and chaos rather than inflict direct damage and warned that these operations are on the rise across Europe.
• Norwegian authorities are urging stepped-up security measures and public vigilance to safeguard hydropower networks that underpin the country’s energy resilience.