PST: Russia's secret war on Norwegian trust

Oslo, 10 June 2015. A Russian intelligence officer under diplomatic cover lays down a forged letter on the meeting table at Drammensveien — the final link in a carefully planned operation to prevent Ukrainian President Poroshenko from being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This is not a movie scene. This happened right here, at home.

In this week’s episode of our podcast Digitaliseringspodden (in Norwegian), Jens Christian Bang and Dag Rustad welcome Atle Tangen, section head at the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) — and he has stories that are as fascinating as they are alarming. Because Russia is not just running traditional espionage against Norway. They combine intelligence gathering, cyber attacks, sabotage and influence operations in an interplay that is difficult to detect, and even harder to counter.

Bang and Rustad dig into what may be the most important question of all: What happens to a society when trust slowly, but surely, begins to erode? Because that is precisely what Russia is aiming at. Not at infrastructure or state secrets alone — but at the very glue of Norwegian society.

What makes Norway such an attractive target? What does an influence operation look like from the inside? And what do we do when the enemy is invisible?

PST has the answers — and they are not reassuring.

‍

‍