Lacks in the Protection of Finnish Telecommunication

Tia Oja,

Correspondent (Europe)

 

HELSINKI – The Finnish newspapers reported last week about the mobile phones of Finnish secretaries of state still being unprotected.

According to newspapers there are major shortcomings in the protection of telecommunication for heads of state. The topic is current as the protection of telecommunication for the heads of state in Finland is being looked into as we speak.

The head of security services, Timo Härkönen, has said that the government has its own network for emails but the issue with mobile phones is still under investigation. According to Härkönen, the challenge is creating a system that is at the same time both affordable and usable. He also points out that heads of state have at their use a landline, which Härkönen believes is more secure than mobile phones.

The recent stories of NSA have raised questions about the security of what could be called private information in various countries. More than anything else one has been able to read stories about the outrage of French people towards the NSA and Obama.

In addition, the dirt Edward Snowden brought out into the daylight about especially the U.S., Israeli and British governments and the vast amounts of information they have been able to collect about different countries and their people have made some question the safety of everyday mediums such as Facebook and email.

Different countries have been taking different kinds of steps for securing their private information. For example, in Britain even the use of iPads and smartphones has been banned in the official state meeting because of fear of spying attempts.

Härkönen reminds us that the use of common sense will get you far. For example the kind of information you do not wish to share with the world, you might not want to have written on your Facebook profile. Once something goes up in the internet, is stays there.