Advertisement

Swedish email subject to US surveillance: report

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Swedish email subject to US surveillance: report

Emails sent to the Swedish state and government authorities can be accessed by the US security services, according to a report by the Computer Sweden daily.

Advertisement

"If you do not want to send information that could end up in US government hands, well then you should not communicate with these authorities," Stefan Thelberg, CEO of IT security firm Stay Secure, said to the newspaper.

Several Swedish state agencies have their email systems linked to companies allegedly connected to the recently revealed Prism surveillance system used by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

According to Thelberg these include weather agency SMHI, the City of Stockholm, several companies and the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet), which forms part of the governing Alliance coalition.

The existence of the Prism system was revealed by the Guardian and the Washington Post newspapers on Friday and discussion has raged since as to the extent of the program and its level of secrecy.

Google, Facebook and Microsoft have denied that "direct access" is provided to their servers, and Apple claimed to the Guardian that it "had never heard" of Prism.

US President Barrack Obama has meanwhile defended the programs arguing that they had helped in the fight against terrorism.

Fredrik Wallin, spokesman for the Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA), has described the revelations as a wake-up call for users to be aware that their internet traffic passes through several jurisdictions.

"It is thus possible to listen in if there is legislation which allows it. This is something to be aware of and is naturally a problem for internet security," Wallin said.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also