A cyberattack on Danish institutions disrupted several government and defense-related websites on November 13, according to the country’s Civil Protection Agency. The incident, which involved widespread DDoS attacks, caused temporary outages across multiple online services and prompted authorities to intensify monitoring alongside Denmark’s military intelligence service.
The Civil Protection Agency reported that “several Danish companies and websites were currently experiencing outages and operating disruptions because of DDoS attacks.” As officials noted, a DDoS attack overwhelms a website’s servers by flooding them with traffic, blocking access for legitimate users. The agency said it was “following the situation closely,” indicating the scale and persistence of the disruptions.
Shortly after the cyberattack on the Danish government, the pro-Russian hacker group NoName057 reportedly claimed responsibility on social media. The group alleged it had targeted systems belonging to the Danish government, including the Ministry of Transport and the public-sector portal Borger.dk. Defense contractor Terma was also named in the claims and later confirmed that it had been affected.
Tobias Brun-Falkencrone, a spokesperson for Terma, addressed the situation cautiously. “We’re aware that a Russian hacker group has claimed that it would disrupt our website, as well as the ones of several Danish authorities, but it’s too early to say they are responsible,” he remarked. He emphasized that Terma’s systems responded effectively: “We are well geared to handle this kind of cyberattack and acted quickly. There were no security breaches and no data was lost”, reported Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times.
Attacks Follow Earlier Disruptions Ahead of Local Elections
The November 13 attacks came just a day after NoName057 claimed it had targeted several Danish municipal websites on November 12. These earlier disruptions occurred less than a week before Denmark’s local elections, drawing attention to the country’s strong support for Ukraine and the potential geopolitical motivations behind the digital assaults.
International reports, including coverage from AFP and Ukrinform, noted that the cyberattack on Danish institutions aligns with a broader wave of pro-Russia cyber activity affecting European nations. In the Netherlands, Russian hackers recently stole personal data from residents in a municipality.
In Poland, a payment system was breached, resulting in the theft of customer information from a major tour company. Ukrinform also highlighted an incident in which Russian state-linked hackers infiltrated systems belonging to a British defense contractor, exposing sensitive employee data on the dark web.
Authorities Continue Monitoring Amid Rising Cyber Threats
Although the Danish government has not reported any data loss or long-term damage, the recurring DDoS attacks highlight persistent vulnerabilities in public infrastructure and defense-linked networks. Authorities have not released detailed technical findings but remain engaged in coordinated oversight to assess potential links to broader geopolitical tensions.
The Civil Protection Agency and military intelligence continue to monitor the situation, signaling that Denmark is preparing for additional attempts to disrupt critical digital systems in the near future.
