Overview 

Sweden is one of the most well-connected countries in the world, with over 98 percent of the population having access to internet.  With the growing number of connected devices, remote access and online activity, reported instances of cybercrime are on the rise.  Already in 2019, ransomware attacks were increasing and have since grown by 144 percent and moved towards Triple Extortion, with attackers demanding payments not only from the company but also their clients and partners.  According to Sophos Sweden’s annual cyberattack report, Swedes are getting better at protecting their systems against ransomware attacks and making sure their cyber insurance is sufficient.  The global average of companies subjected to ransomware attacks per country is 37 percent, but in Sweden it is still 50 percent even if has gone down 10 percentage points from 2019.

In December 2020, the Swedish government announced the formation of a National Cybersecurity Center, led by four authorities:  Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), Swedish National Defense Radio Establishment (FRA), Swedish Armed Forces and Swedish Security Service (SÄPO). They will be supported by other relevant stakeholders, including Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS), Swedish Criminal Investigation Service (RKP), Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV), Swedish Certification Body for IT Security (CSEC) and Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST).  The center will be developed 2021-2023, after which the government will decide the future format.

The center’s work will initially concentrate on the following aspects:

• Coordinate the work to prevent, detect and manage cyberattacks and IT incidents
• Provide support and advice pertaining to threats, vulnerabilities and risks
• Create a national platform for cooperation and information exchange between public and private stakeholders

Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis, TPIS, SCB – Statistics Sweden  Unit: $ millions  

Total market size = (total local production + imports) - exports 

*Please note that the local production data is based on industry estimates 

Leading Sub-Sectors 

• Application Security: vulnerability assessment and analysis tools, patch management software, content filtering and monitoring software. 
• Identity and Access Based Services: intrusion detection systems, authentication systems, anomaly detection & prevention systems, messaging security, access management systems. 
• Situational Awareness: Deep & Dark Web investigation services, attack trend analysis services, intrusion response services. 
• System Recovery and Data Cleansing: automated data cleansing tools, validation and verification tools, de-duplication software. 

Opportunities 

The public sector and critical infrastructure sectors (transportation, energy, and communications) account for roughly 30 percent of the cybersecurity solutions demand. Investments in cybersecurity are expected to continue to grow in 2021 - 2022 due to both an overall increase in IT security awareness and the disruptions caused by COVID19.   

Legacy manufacturing companies are in the process of digitalizing parts of their production with increased systems’ integration, connected devices, and both raw and analyzed data moving to cloud-based platforms. Industrial cybersecurity has a wider scope than traditional IT security, as it involves the company’s products and production processes with sensitive IPR information.  Demand for applications such as enhanced Industrial Control Systems (ICS) capabilities and operational technology (OT) security platforms is increasing.   

Public Procurement 

There is no national database for public sector contracts in Sweden.  Instead, the contracts are available on several private sector databases, listed on the National Agency For Public Procurement (upphandlingsmyndigheten.se) website. Procurements that exceed specific contract values, are also published in the EU Database TED (ted.europa.eu)

Resources 

Data Inspection Board (datainspektionen.se)

IT Security (informationsakerhet.se)

Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (msb.se)

National Cybersecurity Center (cfcs.se)

Trade Events

SecTech Sweden Expo & Seminar, November 27 - 28, 2021, Stockholm 

(securityworldmarket.com)

Local Commercial Specialist: Tuula Ahlstrom, Tuula.Ahlstrom@trade.gov