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Sweden, Norway rethink plans for cashless societies over fears that fully digital payment systems would leave them vulnerable to Russian security threats (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by 0x815@feddit.org to c/technology@lemmy.world

156 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4262252

A combination of good high-speed internet coverage, high digital literacy rates, large rural populations and fast-growing fintech industries had put the Nordic neighbours on a fast track to a future without cash.

[...]

But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and a subsequent rise in cross-border hybrid warfare and cyber-attacks blamed on pro-Russia groups have prompted a rethink.

[...]

The Swedish government has since completely overhauled its defence and preparedness strategy, joining Nato, starting a new form of national service and reactivating its psychological defence agency to combat disinformation from Russia and other adversaries. Norway has tightened controls on its previously porous border with Russia.

[...]

[Norway's] justice and public security ministry said it “recommends everyone keep some cash on hand due to the vulnerabilities of digital payment solutions to cyber-attacks”. It said the government took preparedness seriously “given the increasing global instability with war, digital threats, and climate change. As a result, they’ve ensured that the right to pay with cash is strengthened”.

[...]

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[–] irotsoma@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

Yeah, considering how bad banks and other financial institutions are at IT security and the fact that there's no incentive for a capitalist financial institution to fix that problem, it's not a good idea.

[–] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 9 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

That's not entirely true. In order to be allowed to keep processing transactions you have to adhere to strict rules which do get regularly audited. And then there's the whole "customers will switch to another more reliable party in case of outages or security problems". And trust me, I've seen first-hand that they do.

[–] uis@lemm.ee 1 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

And then there's the whole "customers will switch to another more reliable party in case of outages or security problems".

Outages? Yes. Security problems? LMAO!

[–] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Our company has directly profited from a competitor that leaked sensitive data, because some of their large corporate customers decided to switch to us.

Business don't like being on the receiving end of a data leak either you know.

[–] uis@lemm.ee 1 points 2 weeks ago

We are talking about hundreds of thousands people here

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