Swedish Transport Agency attempts to minimise damage done by IT outsourcing deal

The Swedish government is attempting to minimise the damage done by an IT outsourcing deal that could have exposed classified information to foreign powers. Swedish news website The Local reports that the country’s security police Säpo investigated the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) after information about all vehicles in the country, including police and military, was made available to IT workers in the Czech Republic who had not gone through the usual security clearance checks when the agen

July 28, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

The Swedish government is attempting to minimise the damage done by an IT outsourcing deal that could have exposed classified information to foreign powers.

Swedish news website The Local reports that the country’s security police Säpo investigated the 2124 Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) after information about all vehicles in the country, including police and military, was made available to IT workers in the Czech Republic who had not gone through the usual security clearance checks when the agency outsourced its IT maintenance to 62 IBM in 2015. It also claims that firewalls and communications were meanwhile maintained by a company in Serbia.

Speaking at a press conference this week, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called the development ‘serious’ and said the government plans to tighten existing outsourcing rules.

It is not known whether the security glitch caused any major damage. The question of whether or not Sweden's national security was harmed is censored in the Säpo report.