Norway’s military has serious flaws in its digital systems that could limit its capabilities in the event of an attack, a report released Tuesday blasts, in the midst of deploying soldiers around the country’s oil facilities.
After examining the army’s information and communication systems, Riksrevisjonen, the Norwegian equivalent of the Court of Audit, judged it “extremely serious” – the highest level of criticism, rarely used – that flaws had been found in them.
In a public report purged of confidential elements, the institution pointed out “vulnerabilities in the security of information systems”, the difficulties of the various systems to exchange between them and the failing management of the Ministry of Defense.
“This means that it may be more difficult for the defense to handle an attack against Norwegian targets,” Riksrevisjonen chief Karl Erik Schjøtt-Pedersen pointed out in a presentation.
The Minister of Defence, Bjørn Arild Gram, said he welcomed the conclusions of the report “extremely seriously”.
The findings come as the military has been called in to increase security at Norwegian oil facilities after sightings of mysterious drones near offshore platforms and the alleged sabotage of the Nordstream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the nearby Baltic Sea.
Norway has become the main supplier of gas to Europe since the reduction of Russian deliveries in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
On Monday, elements of the National Guard – a reserve of civilians with military training – began to deploy around critical energy infrastructure, such as gas processing units, refineries and a gas liquefaction plant.
Norway has also strengthened the surveillance of its offshore oil installations with the deployment of military vessels, aircraft patrols and the installation of drone detection sensors.
It has also accepted military contributions from three European countries, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, to strengthen security in its maritime sector.
