norwegian phone data breach by russian hackers stirs alarm
Data from cell phones belonging to 148,000 Norwegians were allegedly taken over by Russian hackers. The data protection authority considers the scale of the event to be "potentially enormous."
The stolen data reportedly contains information about the location and movements of mobile phone users. Norwegian television NRK refers to an announcement on a Russian hacker forum. The authors of the post claim that the acquired information can be attributed to specific subscribers.
Tobias Judin from the Norwegian data protection authority, Datatilsynet, was cited by NRK television, admitting that the incident could have serious consequences.
Potentially, the scale of the theft could be enormous. The acquired data may contain sensitive information that can be used to influence and manipulate those it concerns, he told Norwegian television journalists.
The location data was reportedly stolen from the Norwegian-American company Gravy Analytics. It was collected from apps installed on mobile devices. In 2024, the American Federal Trade Commission accused the company of illegally trading in mobile phone user data, which contained information about personal relationships, pregnancies, political views, and the religious beliefs of mobile device users.
In December, Reuters reported that Gravy Analytics reached an agreement with the Joe Biden administration, prohibiting the company from collecting location data.
Neither NRK journalists nor Reuters received any comment from Gravy Analytics regarding the disclosed data theft.
