Telenor Norway and the Norwegian Armed Forces Cyber Defence enter into an emergency preparedness agreement

(Fornebu, Norway, 17 January 2018) The Norwegian Armed Forces Cyber Defence and Telenor Norway have signed an agreement on strengthening national handling of digital security incidents. – A closer cooperation should ensure that our resources are available to one another on the day they're required, says Major General Inge Kampenes, Chief of the Norwegian Armed Forces Cyber Defence.

Telenor Norway and the Norwegian Armed Forces Cyber Defence share responsibility for operating and protecting critical national infrastructure so that it can function in times of peace, crisis and war. Following six years of collaborating to share information and expertise, the parties have now entered into a new cooperation agreement.

- We must ensure that we have a proper emergency preparedness plan in place during peacetime to ensure that it works on the day a national crisis unfolds, says Major General Inge Kampenes.

The agreement shall continue this cooperation so that both parties improve their ability to both protect and safeguard the operation of critical infrastructure relating to national social security and emergency preparedness.

- Cooperation between the Norwegian Armed Forces and Televerket (Telenor’s former name) was a central part of the combined military defence and civil emergency preparedness concept during the Cold War. With an increased focus on national emergency preparedness and the ability to react, alongside the growth of increased digital dependency and vulnerability, it is natural to have a closer cooperation with Telenor Norway once again, Kampenes continues.

Among other things, the Norwegian Cyber Defence Force and Telenor Norway will cooperate by practising how they manage crises, work together to develop expertise, inform each other of incident threats and share information about threats, vulnerabilities, potential risks, methods of attack and malware within the cyber domain.

Increased cyber cooperation sought
In 2017, Telenor Norway again took up a role as part of the central Totalforvarsforum (combined military defence and civil emergency preparedness forum).

- We take our role in this forum very seriously. It is not just the security authorities that have an important role to play in a crisis that challenges Norway via the cyber domain. We have long hoped for the authorities to offer more cooperation platforms that include private players. It's crucial that we're well protected against new digital threats, says Berit Svendsen, vice president of Telenor Norway.

This is also in line with the company's consultative response to the report to the Storting (the Norwegian parliament) on ICT that was issued by the Storting on Tuesday 16 January. (link to case that summarises our consultative response)

Biggest exercise of the decade
NATO and its partners will be coming to Norway this autumn to take part in the Trident Juncture 2018 exercise. Between 30,000 and 50,000 soldiers will take part in the biggest exercise here in Norway since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

- We've got to be prepared for extra security challenges during such an exercise. This exercise will attract much international attention, and we expect a greater load on our network. We've got to be aware of our responsibility in supporting Norway's duties as the host nation. This can be ensured through a close dialogue with the Norwegian Armed Forces Cyber Defence and having strong emergency preparedness cooperation in place ahead of the exercise, says Berit Svendsen.

Major General Kampenes agrees:

- The Norwegian Armed Forces has its own nationwide communication infrastructure, but during large allied exercises and operations we support other participants by providing the infrastructure and the communications support that our allies need. We'll be relying on close dialogue and good cooperation with commercial players in this regard, Major General Kampenes explains.

Facts about the agreement:
The agreement is a continuation of the collaboration that has been ongoing between the Norwegian Armed Forces Cyber Defence and Telenor Norway since an agreement was reached in 2012. The agreement was signed by the head of the Norwegian Armed Forces Cyber Defence, Major General Inge Kampenes, and Vice President of Telenor Norway Berit Svendsen. The agreement shall enhance the overall ability to protect critical infrastructure relating to national social security and emergency preparedness. Both parties should be able to support each other in their emergency preparedness plans and will coordinate shared relevant emergency preparedness plans.

In practice, this means that Telenor Norway and the Norwegian Cyber Defence Force will, among other things, do the following:

• -Cooperate on incident and crisis management
• -Liaise with each other
• -Discuss technology and processes
• -Have annual emergency preparedness exercises
• -Warn each other about relevant incidents within their own information infrastructure
• -Exchange upgraded information about threats, vulnerabilities, potential risks, methods of attack and malware

The agreement is not a commercial agreement; the parties cover their own costs associated with the agreement.

For further information, please contact:

Knut Grandhagen

Head of Communications Norwegian Cyber Defence

Tel.: +47 489 55 505

Email: khg@oslo.mil.no

or

Caroline Lunde

Communications Manager at Telenor Norway

Tel: +47 971 55 855

Email: caroline.lunde@telenor.com