A police officer walks near a robot in an area that has been cordoned off in central Oslo on April 8, 2017, after police arrested a man following the discovery of a 'bomb-like device'. (AFP/NTB Scanpix/Fredrik Varfjell/ Norway OUT)
OSLO, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Norway's Police Security Service (PST) published an assessment report Tuesday naming extreme Islamism as the biggest terror threat for the country in 2018.
Foreign intelligence services and recruitment of resources and agents are also considered to be one of the increasing threats, the report said.
PST head Benedicte Bjornland said at a press conference that PST has decreased the level of concerns about extreme Islamism.
"Radicalization is no longer based on organizations, but rather from individuals, so the power and environmental impacts are weakened," Bjornland said.
According to her, PST does not have a full overview of what has happened to about 40 Norwegians who joined the group IS in Syria and Iraq, and expressed doubt they would return to Norway if they were still alive.
"They have been there for a long time and they are convinced that extreme Islamism is the way to live. Our assessment has been that Norway is not a desirable return country for them. They may want to engage in new conflict areas, " Bjornland explained.
PST, however, still could not "rule out that anything could happen," and a possible attack could be simple and performed with simple weapons like knives, firearms, vehicles or explosive.
According to general PST assessment, it is unlikely that right-wing extremists will carry out terrorist attacks in Norway, while left-wing extremists are very unlikely to commit terrorism despite increased activity.
"There is a concern about the right-wing extremist environment. The Nordic resistance movement is a racist organization with hatred against those of different color and religion. They have a far greater environment in Sweden than in Norway, and we must therefore work actively to ensure that they do not get a foothold here, " said Justice Minister Sylvi Listhaug.
PST also added Norway's vulnerability in situations where foreign intelligence tries to get information about Norwegian interests by recruiting sources and through hacking or network operations.
Norway's defense sector, state administration, research and development and critical infrastructure businesses are considered to be particularly vulnerable to this type of threat, the report said.
"The cyber domain is vulnerable. It is cost effective and one can harvest significant amounts of information and do that from the ground in a completely different country, "Bjornland said.
