Nordic police forces are ringing alarm bells over a surge in cyber attacks on vital public and private IT systems. They see collaboration between agencies as crucial in tackling the escalating threat.
Recently, banks have faced waves of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, especially against Nordea, raising serious concerns about how resilient both government and businesses are to these types of sophisticated strikes. The financial sector is reacting by discussing changes that would prevent skilled IT workers from joining strikes if their expertise is urgently needed to respond to cyber threats.
Paul Lønseth, director of Økokrim in Norway, emphasizes that Nordic countries must bolster cross-border teamwork to fight these digital menaces. “Fraudsters are using increasingly advanced technology,” he points out. “Digital fraud isn’t just a national issue; it’s a global one. Our countries are similar and close—together, we can tackle these vulnerabilities.”
Early investigations by Nordea and its cybersecurity partners suggest that hackers may be using everyday smart appliances, like refrigerators and washing machines, to form bot networks, which fuel these attacks. Frank Vang-Jensen, CEO of Nordea, argues for unified regional defenses against cyber threats. “We are working closely with national authorities to enhance our collaborative efforts,” he states.
A recent report highlighted a staggering 260,000 cases of digital fraud reported across Nordic nations, amounting to nearly €1 billion in losses this year alone. Sara Mella, head of personal banking at Nordea, described the attacks on their infrastructure as unprecedented, generating up to 15 million service requests per second.
Nordea, the largest bank in the Nordic region, faced 20 DDoS attacks in the first half of 2024, but during one intense month, they experienced an overwhelming 360 attacks. These assaults showed a disturbing trend—some originated from within Nordic IP addresses, hinting at domestic device compromises.
“It’s likely that household appliances were commandeered for these assaults. While we managed to thwart 90% of the attempts, the scale and persistence of the attacks marked a new level of aggression,” Mella explains.
The flood of traffic disrupted Nordea’s customer access, prompting security chief Marc Hofmann to stress the importance of their strengthening defenses. “We’re continuously improving our measures, but even with strong security, some service disruptions are inevitable. It’s frustrating for our customers.”
In Finland, Finanssiala, the central organization for banks and insurers, is advocating for regulatory changes that would limit the right to strike for IT professionals. They are pushing for a “crisis exception,” which would ensure these experts are available during cyber emergencies, a proposal they plan to present to unions soon.
Finland’s Ministry of Employment is drafting a Protective Work Bill that would clarify which critical tasks could be exempt from existing strike laws. “We need assurances that critical IT personnel are available during cyber crises. Current laws don’t provide that guarantee,” says CEO Arno Ahosniemi of Finanssiala.
There’s also a concern that these increased attacks on Nordic banks could be part of a broader strategy by Russia to undermine stability in the region. Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, Finnish and Swedish banks have faced a notable rise in hacking attempts, particularly following Finland’s NATO membership in May 2022 and Sweden’s impending membership.
However, Finnish authorities caution against rushing to conclusions about the origins of these cyber attacks. Markus Saario, an investigator with the National Bureau of Investigation, notes that investigations are ongoing and require thorough cooperation across various agencies. “We cannot make any assumptions about suspects at this stage,” he says.