Finland warns of hostile activities by Russia

Fortum Oyj

23/10/2024 16:15

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      Finland experiencing acts of sabotage and disruption
    

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      Interior minister blames Russia for influence operations
    

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      Acts are creating 'uncertainty and vagueness', Lulu Ranne
says
    

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      Russia has repeatedly denied such claims
    

  
    By Anne Kauranen
       HELSINKI, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Finland is experiencing
suspicious acts of sabotage and disruption and believes Russia
is engaged in broad-ranging influence operations against it and
other European countries, Finland's Minister of Interior Lulu
Ranne said.
    NATO and Western intelligence services, including Finland's,
have warned that Russia is behind a growing number of hostile
activities across the Euro-Atlantic area, ranging from repeated
cyber attacks to Moscow-linked arson - all of which Russia
denies.
    "We are experiencing disruptions, acts of sabotage, various
types of damage, and instrumentalised migration, among other
things. This creates a general sense of uncertainty and
vagueness about what is true and what is not," Ranne told
reporters.
    She said investigations into many of the cases were ongoing.
    "However, based on the information from both civilian and
military intelligence, we have clear indications pointing to
Russia," she said, adding the link was most evident in GPS
interference Finland has witnessed in its maritime and air
traffic.        
    "Currently, Russia is the main entity engaging in
broad-ranging influence operations against us," she said. 
    Some of the suspicious cases may stem from vandalism and
prove not to have any links to state actors, but rather people's
increased alertness to such incidents, Finland's Security and
Intelligence Service Supo said.
    Earlier in October, Nordic utility Fortum  FORTUM.HE  told
Reuters it faces cyberattacks on a daily basis in Finland and
Sweden, and has sometimes spotted drones and suspicious
individuals near its sites. Its power plants' satellite
connections have also been disturbed.
    The Nordic region's largest lender Nordea  NDAFI.HE  has
been targeted with an unprecedented denial of service campaign
for weeks, which National Cyber Security Director Rauli Paananen
of the ministry of transport and communications described as
"highly unusual".
    The attacks prompted Finland's National Bureau of
Investigation to launch an investigation into cyber attacks
targeting the financial sector on Friday.
   Nordea said in an emailed statement to Reuters: "The recent
wave of DDoS attacks, which started in mid-September across
Nordic countries, was the most aggressive we've ever seen. The
attacks led to temporary slowness or unavailability of online
services."
    It said it had blocked around 90% of recent attacks against
it.
     
    THEFTS AT WATER FACILITIES
    Finnish authorities have systematically sought to verify all
drone sightings near critical infrastructure.
    "However, a murky layer remains that cannot be identified,
no one has been caught," said Tomi Vuori, director general of
the interior ministry's police department.
    In addition to drones, a considerable number of thefts at
water facilities and similar sites have been detected in which
technical equipment has been stolen without clear financial
interest, he said, raising suspicions of the involvement of a
state actor.
    Supo said Russia's intelligence and secret services have had
to rethink their operations after European countries expelled
more than 700 Russian diplomats in response to Russia's war in
Ukraine.
    "Russia's modus operandi is increasingly aggressive, they
are a more dangerous actor and they are less and less interested
in collateral victims," Supo's Deputy Chief Teemu Turunen told
Reuters. 
    "The other side of the coin is that Russia is not an
omnipotent, all-powerful actor, as they often like to portray
themselves. They are not capable of everything they are
currently being accused of," he added.

 (Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; Editing by Sharon
Singleton)
 ((mailto:anne.kauranen@thomsonreuters.com; +358401895560;))