Sweden’ s government involved in data breach, two ministers resign

8 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

Sweden's government faces mounting political pressure over its handling of a huge leak by one of its agencies of sensitive data, including potentially the identities of covert defence and intelligence personnel on overseas missions.

What began as a scandal earlier this month over an IT outsourcing deal between the Swedish Transport Authority and IBM in 2015 has turned into a full-blown political crisis for the government as the extent of the confidential data leak has become known.

The leak was revealed earlier this month after the Transport Agency"s former director general Maria Agren was fined 70,000 Swedish krona ($10,700) for mishandling confidential information. Agren had been fired in January without explanation.

IBM in turn used subcontractors in the Czech Republic and Romania — making the sensitive information accessible by foreign technicians who did not have security clearance.
The transport agency then emailed the entire database in messages to marketers that subscribe to it, in clear, unencrypted text.

When the error was discovered, the transport agency merely thought of sending a new list in another email, asking the subscribers to delete the old list themselves.

The Swedish military said information on its personnel, vehicles and defence and contingency planning could have been included in the leak, although the transport agency denied having a register on military vehicles and said there was no indication the data had been “spread in an improper way”.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on Thursday opted to replace two government ministers rather than hold a snap vote more than a year ahead of schedule.
"I have to take responsibility for the country. It wouldn't serve Sweden to throw the country into a political crisis," Lofven told a news conference, citing the many challenges Sweden and the European Union were facing, including Brexit.
He said two ministers involved in the row, Interior Minister Anders Ygeman and Infrastructure Minister Anna Johansson,  had resigned. Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist remains in his post, he said.