Norway: Russian hackers hit our spy agency, government

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Nine personal civil-servant email accounts in Norway have been targeted by hackers in “spear-phishing” attacks believed to be associated with Russian intelligence, the Norwegian security service said Friday. It said no classified information has been taken.

PST spokesman Martin Berntsen says the agency was warned earlier this year by a foreign agency about “targeted attacks” on the security service, Norway’s Labor Party, the military and government agencies. He declined to name the foreign partner.

“The attacks had a signature that indicates those behind the hacking can be identified as APT29,” Bernsen told The Associated Press. “They can be traced back to Russia.”

He said APT29 was an another term for Cozy Bear, the hackers that last year broke into U.S. Democratic Party computers and earlier infiltrated unclassified networks at the White House, the State Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“There is a good international cooperation where we warn each other when we see this,” Bernsen said, adding this kind of scam happens “regularly.”

“Spear-phishing” involves emails that appear to be from known individuals or businesses. Once opened, hackers can launch malicious software onto a recipient’s computer network.