Sweden foiled pro-Russian cyberattack on thermal power plant in 2025, minister says

Published on 15/04/2026 - 20:25 GMT+2

Sweden thwarted a pro-Russian cyberattack connected a thermal powerfulness works successful mid-2025, the authorities said connected Wednesday, saying the radical down it was linked to Russian intelligence.

There were nary superior consequences, Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said.

"The Swedish Security Service handled the lawsuit and was capable to place the histrion down it, which has ties to Russian quality and information services," Bohlin told reporters.

Bohlin told the AFP quality bureau that the onslaught failed "because the information systems successful spot worked."

Without going into detail, helium said the purpose of the cognition was to disrupt the functioning of a installation that supplies heating.

The curate added that the onslaught "illustrates that we are dealing with an antagonist who does not hesitate to make carnal disruptions that tin beryllium likened to sabotage of our carnal infrastructure."

The works was located successful occidental Sweden, helium said.

Bohlin said cyber threats against Swedish interests had accrued since Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022, arsenic Moscow targeted countries supporting Ukraine.

"This points to a changed, much risk-prone and much reckless behaviour from Russia, which could pb to perchance precise harmful effects connected society," helium said, adding that the Swedish authorities was taking the improvement "very seriously."

"Our enactment for Ukraine remains steadfast," helium stressed.

More sophisticated

Bohlin besides said that attackers were nary longer conscionable relying connected nonstop denial of work (DDoS) attacks, which overload systems by sending monolithic amounts of traffic, against IT systems, but were present besides targeting truthful called operational exertion (OT) that power the infrastructure.

"That is, power systems which often power carnal functions successful assorted operations and effort to destroy, compromise, oregon disrupt them," Bohlin told AFP.

Pontus Johnson, a prof astatine the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, explained that portion DDoS attacks were comparatively elemental attacks, attacking OT systems required a higher level of sophistication.

"You don't conscionable nonstop postulation their way, but you are trying to find vulnerabilities to participate the systems to past beryllium capable to impact them," Johnson said.

"It requires a overmuch much competent attacker," helium said, and added that the emergence of the usage of AI had besides made these types of attacks easier for hackers.

Johnson besides said the targeting of OT systems was besides much superior due to the fact that dissimilar the targeting of for lawsuit a website, these systems really power things successful the "physical world."

This opens the doorway to imaginable disruptions of things similar the powerfulness grid oregon railways, helium explained.

Bohlin said it was important for Sweden to publicise the threats it was facing to nonstop a awesome "to threat-actors and fto them cognize that we spot what you are doing."

"We are besides doing it to continually rise consciousness successful society, successful bid to make our cybersecurity and corporate resilience, and truthful that we tin enactment successful solidarity with our allies and partners."