Denmark's digital reliance leaves it exposed to cyberattacks, minister says

COPENHAGEN, Oct 23 : Denmark's heavy reliance on digital systems leaves it vulnerable to cyberattacks that could undermine public trust in authorities, the country's resilience minister told Reuters on Friday.

Denmark is among the world's most digitalised countries, and confidence in its digital public services is high.

Governments and companies worldwide, including in Denmark, this week took websites offline after critical flaws in a widely used programming language triggered millions of hacking attempts. Danish municipal IT company Kombit, for example, said it had shut down several services, including the national school communication platform.

Resilience and Preparedness Minister Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen said Denmark's early embrace of digitalisation had delivered major benefits but also increased its exposure to cyber threats.

Utilities, healthcare and financial services all depend heavily on digital infrastructure.

Her main concern is public confidence. Even attacks that cause limited disruption can weaken trust in authorities, she said, while the steady stream of reports about cyber incidents "has a very destructive impact on society".

"The new normal is that we're going to be attacked on a daily basis, whether it's Russia, whether it's criminal hackers doing it for economic gain or something else," she said.

The high level of trust Danes place in public institutions was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when strong vaccine uptake helped the country reopen society relatively quickly.

Bech-Nielsen said Denmark needed to invest more in its digital infrastructure and reconsider how much critical equipment should be connected to the internet.

She pointed to an incident in France in which freezers were remotely controlled, and questioned whether more local, closed systems would offer greater security.

"We need to change some things fundamentally in how we arrange the digital infrastructure in Denmark, but it will affect a lot of people and a lot of ways of living, of doing business," she said.