Cyber Incident Victim: Grönland
Date:
Mar 2022
Location:
Greenland
Summary
A security breach was discovered on a central administration server in Greenland, prompting authorities to block all incoming and outgoing communication from those servers to contain the incident. As a result, the public service portal Sullissivik and other government websites that rely on external data validation or transmit data outside the territory became inaccessible, including services that require NemID authentication. Officials stated they are working intensively to repair the breach and will provide an update once the block is lifted.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On March 25, 2022, the Greenlandic self‑government announced that a security breach had been detected on one of the central administration’s servers. The breach was disclosed in a press release from Naalakkersuisut, which stated that the vulnerability was found in the access point to the server. As a precaution, the self‑government decided to shut down parts of the Sullissivik website and several other public online services. The shutdown took effect immediately and was scheduled to remain in place until at least the following Monday.
The blockade prevented all inbound and outbound communication to and from Greenland via the central administration’s servers, which in turn blocked the use of NemID for logging into Sullissivik. Citizens and businesses attempting to access the portal or any other public digital service that relies on data exchanged outside Greenland experienced service interruptions. Specifically, the digital solutions on sullissivik.gl that depend on NemID validation—performed on servers in Denmark—became unavailable. The self‑government noted that the outage would affect a range of website services and that some services would remain inaccessible until the block was lifted.
To address the incident, the administration initiated an intensive effort to investigate and repair the security breach. While the investigation proceeded, the communication block was maintained to protect central administration’s data from further exposure. The self‑government indicated that it would issue a new status update on Monday evening, once the investigation and remediation work had progressed sufficiently.