Political tension in Sweden following reports of IT leak

Publisher
Series Title
Series Details July 2017
Publication Date 24/07/2017
Content Type

Background and further information:

First media reports emerged as it was made public that the former director-general of Sweden's Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) Maria Ågren - fired in January 2017 - had been fined after a probe found her guily of being 'careless with secret information'. It later became known that the agency had outsourced IT maintenance to IBM in 2015, exposing secret data to foreign workers in the Czech Republic and Serbia. Sweden's security service Säpo highlighted that foreign nationals without proper security clearance had had access to data about Swedish driving licences and transport infrastructure.

Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven stated the leak had been 'a disaster' and pointed out that he had not been informed by his own ministers when they became aware of the issue in 2016. Opposition parties - holding a majority in parliament - called for a no confidence vote targeting three ministers (Anna Johansson, Anders Ygeman and Peter Hultqvist) with responsibility for departments which had failed to detect the flaws of the outsourcing contract. Amid calls for his own resignation, Mr Löfven rejected any snap election but accepted the resignation of two of those ministers. Opposition leaders later insisted that the third member of the cabinet should also resign to avoid the vote in parliament.

Analysts pointed out that this scandal would further undermine the government's already fragile authority and increased the likelihood of a snap election.
This feature looks into a political crisis which emerged in Sweden in July 2017 following reports that a leak had made secret databases including sensitive information available to foreign IT workers following an outsourcing exercise in 2015.

Related Links
BBC News, 24.07.17: Sweden data leak 'a disaster', says PM http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40705473
BBC News, 27.07.17: Swedish PM Lofven drops two ministers over IT crisis http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40729101
Reuters, 26.07.17: Political crisis grips Sweden as confidence vote looms https://in.reuters.com/article/sweden-security-leak-idINKBN1AB1CL
Deutsche Welle, 27.07.17: Swedish no-confidence vote looms despite cabinet reshuffle over IT leak http://p.dw.com/p/2hCig
Politico, 26.07.17: Opposition leaders in Sweden push for no-confidence vote http://www.politico.eu/article/opposition-leaders-in-sweden-push-for-no-confidence-vote/
The Local.se, 26.07.17: Swedish opposition announces no-confidence motion against three government ministers https://www.thelocal.se/20170726/swedish-opposition-announces-no-confidence-motion-in-three-government-ministers
The Local.se, 28.07.17: Analysis: Was Prime Minister Löfven's cabinet reshuffle a smart move? https://www.thelocal.se/20170728/analysis-was-prime-minister-lofvens-cabinet-reshuffle-a-smart-move
Politico, 27.07.17: Swedish ministers resign amid data security breach scandal http://www.politico.eu/article/sweden-data-breach-privacy-security-stefan-lofven/
The Local.se, 21.07.17: IT workers in other countries had access to secret Swedish records: report https://www.thelocal.se/20170721/it-workers-in-other-countries-had-access-to-secret-records-report
The Local.se, 17.07.17: Swedish authority handed over 'keys to the Kingdom' in IT security slip-up https://www.thelocal.se/20170717/swedish-authority-handed-over-keys-to-the-kingdom-in-it-security-slip-up
The Local.se, 26.07.17: The Swedish no-confidence motion explained: who's involved and what it means https://www.thelocal.se/20170726/the-swedish-no-confidence-motion-explained-whos-involved-and-what-it-means
Sweden: Transportstyrelsen / Swedish Transport Agency: Statement about the information in media regarding our IT public procurement, July 2017 http://transportstyrelsen.se/en/About-us/statement-about-the-information-in-media-regarding-our-it-public-procurement/
Sweden: Government: Press Release, 27.07.17: Government reshuffle, 27 July 2017 http://www.government.se/press-releases/2017/07/government-reshuffle-27-july-2017/

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