Sweden's NATO membership may now be imminent, which could result in a large number of cybersecurity attacks against Swedish businesses. This is predicted by cybersecurity researcher Diana Selck-Paulsson at Orange Cyberdefense, who has studied the development of attacks against Nordic businesses. A large increase in attacks occurred against Finland when it joined NATO.
According to the latest news reports, the Turkish parliament has now approved Sweden's NATO membership. Only President Erdogan's approval remains for Turkey. Hungary has previously stated that it does not want to be the last to vote, which could result in Sweden becoming a member very soon. NATO.
– There is an imminent risk that Sweden will be exposed to a large number of cyberattacks, especially from politically motivated threat actors such as NoName057(16), says Diana Selck-Paulsson, security researcher at Orange Cyber Defense. NoName057(16) is a pro-Russian threat actor who, through its volunteer-based DDoSia project, targets Western businesses in both the private and public sectors. A recurring theme in NoName's target groups is NATO and its members. The group has been active since March 2022, and in addition to targeting NATO members, also focused on locations for summits and other similar events, on more than 50 occasions.
When Finland joined NATO in April 2023, attacks were observed that could be linked to the political aspect of NATO membership, something that threat actors used as an argument to attack both private and public businesses in Finland.
Since joining NATO, Finland has suffered more cyberattacks, a development that suggests that it will also Sweden will be similarly exposed. Actors like NoName057(16) may also draw other threat actors into attacks against Sweden now and after a possible NATO membership. It is therefore important to be well prepared for a rapid increase in the number of attacks targeting both public and private businesses in Sweden.
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