The Swedish Public Health Agency has temporarily suspended the SmiNet database in response to a series of hacking attempts.
SmiNet is a database used to store electronic reports on infectious diseases, including COVID-19, that are subject to notification in accordance with the Swedish Communicable Diseases Act.
“The Swedish Public Health Agency has discovered that there have been several attempted intrusions into the SmiNet database. The database has therefore been closed down temporarily," the agency said in a press release issued on May 27.
“Work is underway to investigate as quickly as possible whether anyone may have accessed sensitive personal data from the database, as well as sort out and rectify any deficiencies. The incident will be reported to the Police and to the Privacy Protection Authority.”
The agency said it did not find any evidence that any information was stolen.
The agency could not report complete COVID-19 stats starting with Wednesday at 4 PM due to the database shut down.
In an update published on May 31, the Swedish Public Health Agency said that while the SmiNet database was up and running again, “more time is needed to ensure that the statistics are complete, so that a reliable assessment of the epidemiological situation can be made.”
“Therefore, the next update of the statistics on cases of covid-19 will be on Thursday, June 3. Data from care providers and laboratories are then estimated to have been reported and analyzed.”
The investigation into the matter is still ongoing, the agency said.