Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there has been increased focus on security, including in the energy sector, and the Center for Cybersecurity has raised the threat level for destructive cyberattacks against Denmark from low to medium, just as the Danish Defense Intelligence Service assesses that Russian espionage against energy infrastructure, among other things, is taking place as possible preparations for sabotage.
The focus also comes as a result of incidents where energy companies have been the focus of cyberattacks. This happened, for example, in the spring of 2023, when 22 Danish energy companies were hit by the most extensive cyberattack ever.
The threat is therefore real, and the energy sector in Denmark has apparently taken this into account. In any case, a survey conducted by the business organization Green Power Denmark among its members shows that 74 percent of companies have increased their spending on security in the past 12 months. Almost all are investing more in cybersecurity, while 45 percent has increased spending on security of physical infrastructure and/or facilities.
The increased security focus among the members of the trade association is sensible, says Jørgen S. Christensen, CTO of Green Power Denmark.
- The threat to critical infrastructure is not new. But it has become larger and more concrete. It is a fundamentally new premise for the protection of critical infrastructure that we must not only deal with the hacker in the garage but also with a threat with real military capacity. This requires that we allocate more resources so that our defenses are as strong as possible, he says.
Denmark can handle the threat
The survey also shows that 72 percent of companies are very concerned about breaches of cybersecurity. While almost 55 percent are very concerned about physical security.
Only two percent have none to low concerns about cybersecurity, while the figure is 11 percent. for security breaches of physical infrastructure and/or facilities.
Despite the concerns and the increasing threat, Jørgen S. Christensen believes that Denmark's energy system is well equipped to handle the threat.
- With our expansion of wind turbine and solar farms, the energy system has become more decentralized and distributed across multiple units. This also makes it significantly more difficult to put our production of electricity out of play, says Jørgen Christensen and continues:
- But it is important that we are constantly at the forefront of developments in the threat level. A secure energy supply is absolutely crucial for citizens, businesses and the healthcare system. Yes, for all parts of society.
amp
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
