DI on AI-generated freedom-of-information requests targeting utility companies: Looks like pranks or harassment

The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) assesses that the many AI-generated freedom-of-information requests sent to Danish utility companies, waterworks among them, mostly look like pranks or harassment. DI does not see them as serious cyber threats.

Another voice in the debate takes a more worried view. Kim Mortensen, CEO of Dansk Fjernvarme, the district heating association, warns that a wave of strange, AI-like requests aimed at district heating and water utilities may be part of attempted cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. He calls on the authorities to issue clear guidelines on how utilities should handle such requests.

The two positions leave a gap in how the requests are read. The utilities that receive them face a flood of inquiries that appear to be machine-written, and they do not yet have official guidance on whether to treat them as a nuisance or as a possible security risk. The material available covers only DI's assessment and Mortensen's warning. It gives no figures on how many requests have arrived, which utilities have been hit, or what the requests ask for.

The significance lies in the combination of AI-generated text, Denmark's public-access rules and critical infrastructure. Freedom-of-information requests are a normal route for citizens and journalists to obtain information from public bodies. If automated tools can generate them in bulk, utilities may be burdened by them, and Dansk Fjernvarme's concern is that they could also be used to probe the sector.