Swedish authorities are struggling to respond to an embarrassing breach of confidential data. Improper access to government information, which initially was kept secret from the public, has led to the resignation of two top government officials and the firing of another.
The scandal can be traced to an apparent cost-cutting measure, when in April 2015, the Swedish Transport Agency outsourced operations of an information technology system to IBM Sweden, according to the agency’s website. The company in turn used subcontractors in Eastern Europe whose employees had not been properly vetted, but ended up having access to the confidential data, news reports said.
