Telenor warns in new Nordic security report: Increased risk of cyberattacks, sabotage and disinformation

The report highlights the growing interdependence of critical services such as power and digital infrastructure and calls on governments and industry to act jointly to build greater Nordic resilience that protects societies, economies, and people.

“We are facing a security situation where a crisis can start anywhere and spread everywhere – across sectors, countries and regions. The strength of the Nordic model lies in trust, close cooperation, and robust digital infrastructure. But to remain resilient, we must connect these strengths across borders,” says Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer, President & CEO of Telenor.

Top security risks identified
The report identifies six main threat categories shaping the Nordic security landscape in 2025 that Telenor must prepare for:

1. Destructive cyberattacks
2. Sabotage of digital and physical infrastructure
3. Foreign influence and disinformation campaigns
4. Intelligence operations targeting critical infrastructure
5. Organised digital financial crime
6. Advanced online fraud

“These are not distant threats, but part of the daily threat picture that we and other telecom operators must be prepared to face,” says Fasmer.

Putting Nordic resilience to the test
Based on Telenor’s latest open threat assessment and insights from the company’s security experts in the Nordic countries, Telenor has identified the main threats:

• Hybrid threats are reshaping the Nordic security landscape. State-backed and criminal actors are blurring the lines between cyberattacks, sabotage, and disinformation, making it challenging to distinguish between accidents and deliberate attacks.
• Critical infrastructure is now a strategic battleground. Subsea cables, mobile networks and cloud infrastructure are vital for everything from defence to economic stability and are prime targets for attacks.
• Weather-related disruptions are testing resilience in real time. The storm Amy has revealed how quickly communications can fail when the power supply is disrupted.
• Data sovereignty is becoming a defining issue. The location and governance of data are now key questions, pushing governments and organisations to invest in sovereign or regionally governed cloud solutions for sensitive workloads.
• Nordic alignment is essential. Shared situational awareness, harmonised frameworks and joint exercises are essential to meeting NATO’s resilience objectives and ensuring the Nordics can act as one during times of crisis.

Sigvart Voss Eriksen, EVP & Head of Telenor Nordics, emphasizes that resilience is not built overnight.
 
“It requires long-term investment, preparedness and coordination between governments and industry. The Nordic countries already have strong national security and preparedness systems, but a crisis doesn’t care about borders,” says Voss Eriksen and adds:

“To protect our critical functions, we must act as a region. That means predictable funding, aligned frameworks and operations, so that we can prepare and respond together when it matters most.”

A Nordic call to action
In the report, Telenor’s Nordic businesses issue a joint call to action for governments and industry in the Nordics – with the aim to strengthen our regional resilience:

• Make resilience a Nordic priority
• Align frameworks and rules across borders
• Strengthen information sharing across borders
• Build redundancy solutions for critical infrastructure
• Scale and exercise together in the Nordics

About Nordic Digital Security 2025
The report is Telenor’s annual assessment of the security environment facing the Nordic region, authored by Telenor’s security expert community. It includes analyses of the evolving threat picture, new attack methods, the emergence of cognitive warfare and the vulnerabilities of subsea cables and critical infrastructure. It also highlights lessons from recent crises and shares recommendations for how governments and operators can strengthen total preparedness and build lasting resilience across the Nordic region.

The full Nordic Digital Security 2025 report is available here: https://telenor.com/nordics/ds25

For further information, please contact:
David Fidjeland, Director Media Relations, mobile +47 93 46 72 24