According to Fredrik Hallström, it is difficult to exactly know what Iran's goal was with the attack, but he says it is possible to "imagine" that it was about increasing the threat against Sweden.
Sweden was already in a fairly strained situation with the Koran burnings. We were in a NATO process that also put us in a strained situation, he says.
Last summer, the Iranian state was behind a serious data breach and an influence campaign in Sweden, according to the Prosecution Authority.
An Iranian hacker group broke into an SMS service and thousands of people were urged via SMS to avenge the desecration of the Koran.
Focused attention on Sweden
The Koran burnings had already led to strong reactions against Sweden both from abroad and domestically.
How much Iran's cyberattack contributed is, according to Fredrik Hallström, difficult to say.
It is difficult to break down the components in such a situation, but it is clear that it has contributed to focusing new attention on Sweden.
I think you can take as a starting point that it contributed to fueling the threat against Sweden.
How clear was the connection to Iran's regime?
We have managed to break it down to the individual level and can link it to the Revolutionary Guard, which in turn is directly linked to the Iranian regime.
Can you say something concrete about how they went about succeeding?
I cannot go into details related to this specific case.
But it requires a number of different steps by an actor who wants to carry out this type of intrusion. You don't just jump right into a data hall and shoot, it will require a lot of cunning from this type of activity.
Does not rule out insiders
Could it have been about people on the inside of the company?
It is naturally impossible to rule out, but it probably wasn't the case here. But it is clear that different actors use different abilities.
Fredrik Hallström emphasizes that Sweden must become better at protecting itself against this type of attack.
It is incredibly important that both companies, authorities, and organizations have relevant protection related to this type of activity. We are in a world situation today where it actually requires, he says.
