Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and the head of the Centre for Cyber Security (CFCS), Thomas Flarup, told media at a briefing that the threat level was raised from “low” to “medium”.

“That happened after [military intelligence agency, ed.] FE and [police intelligence agency, ed.] PET reported an intensified hybrid war,” Poulsen said.

“It’s important to say that Russia does not want a direct conflict with Nato,” Poulsen said.

However, cyber security experts believe Russia will probably direct cyber attacks at various important social infrastructure targets.

CFCS said Russia is willing to pose a cyber challenge to Nato member states like Denmark.

“We believe this willingness to take a risk will come to the fore through destructive cyber-attacks,” Flarup said at the briefing.

The threat rating for cyber activism was at a higher level in Denmark than “medium” as recently as January 2023, when CFCS rated it “high”. High activity by pro-Russian hacker groups targeting Nato member countries was given as the reason at the time.

The centre uses five ratings for cyber threat ranging from “none” to “high”. The rating relates to the threat against businesses and public authorities but not private individuals.

Meanwhile, Poulsen answered a question at the briefing relating to the recent withdrawal of a candidate from his party, the Liberals (Venter) amid reports of Russian influence.

A Liberal candidate for the upcoming EU elections, Alexandra Sasha, last week withdrew from the election and quit politics after media reports that she was compromised by Russia.

Newspaper BT last week reported that Sasha had once been a board member with the youth wing of the European Russian Forum. In a Facebook post announcing her withdrawal from politics, Sasha said she was not a “lackey of Putin”.

Poulsen said the Liberals’ stance was “completely clear”.

“It’s clear to everyone where the Liberals stand in regard to the entire question of Ukraine,” he said at the cyber security briefing.