Attackers took the names and emails of all 20,614 users of Norway's aid grant portal, and stolen emails are often used to build convincing scams.
Hackers broke into the grant portal run by Norad, Norway's national aid agency, and took the names and email addresses of every registered user. That is 20,614 people. Norad confirmed the break-in and has set up a crisis team to deal with it.
Norad coordinates Norway's assistance for foreign development. Its grant portal, launched in 2017, handles applications from organizations around the world. The 20,614 users belong to 12,511 organizations. Norad says the attackers got in through 27 compromised accounts, meaning accounts that someone else had taken over. They then used those accounts to reach the portal and the data.
Applications from at least three organizations were also exposed. Norad says it may find more as its investigation continues.
A name and an email address may sound minor. But scammers can use them to send fake messages that look real, especially to people known to deal with grants and aid. Those messages try to trick you into clicking a link or handing over details.
There is a second worry. Norad would not rule out that names of applicants in "conflict areas and authoritarian states" were in the stolen data. It is not known whether recipients of aid are also registered users. Norad says it is treating the matter "very seriously."
If you never had an account on the Norad grant portal, you are not among the 20,614 users whose details were taken. Norad's director of digitalization, Torger Kjeldstad, said "it should be safe" to keep using the agency's services while the probe goes on.
If you do have an account, the steps in the alert box above cover what to change and what to watch for. The main point is to treat any email that mentions Norad or grants with extra care, even if it looks genuine.
Norad detected the intrusion on October 30. It has not said how long the attackers had access, or who they are. Kjeldstad called the attack "complex." The agency is bringing in outside cybersecurity experts to give a detailed account of what the attackers reached. Until that review is done, the full list of affected data may grow.
If you use Norad's grant portal, change your password and treat any email about Norad or grants with suspicion.
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