The United States and Sweden have agreed to closely cooperate on matters related to cyberthreats.
Tobias Billstrom, Swedish minister of foreign affairs, said following a bilateral dialogue in Washington, D.C., on Thursday that collaborating with the U.S. on cyber and digital issues contributes to a safer Sweden and complements the country’s membership with the European Union and NATO.
Among the issues covered during the dialogue is Sweden’s role as a leader in the telecommunications sector. The nations agreed to jointly develop 6G technology.
“Digital infrastructure, not least 5G, is of huge significance to the economy, but also to security, democracy and human rights,” Andres Jato, ambassador for international cyber and digital affairs at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, said in a statement. “Secure digital infrastructure is a prerequisite for cybersecurity.”
Sweden officially joined NATO on March 7, almost two years after it applied to become a member. Aside from objections from Turkey and Hungary, Stockholm’s accession to the international alliance was marked by an increase in cyberattacks.
According to a new report from network monitoring firm Netscout, Sweden became a prime target for distributed denial-of-service attacks in May 2022 after it formally applied to join NATO. It experienced an onslaught of cyberattacks on Feb. 14 when Billstrom shared that Hungary could ratify Sweden’s NATO membership. The DDoS campaign peaked on Feb. 15, with the attack volume increasing to 636.