The Swedish universities are vulnerable to the Russian nätpirat

at Least a dozen different universities have been the victims of data breaches, which can be linked to the Russian site, The Hub, a kind of piratbibliotek of a scientific publication. Interventions have been made through the stolen credentials of students, teachers and researchers.

the site is in the language nätaktivisten, Alexandra Elbakyan, as the fight on "science and society" will be free and available to all, not limited by the betalväggar and high cost of subscriptions.

the Publishers of the material is taken from, through the university, has for several years been chasing her with the lawsuits regarding copyright infringement. In one case, a judge in New York sentenced her to pay a us $ 15 million in punitive damages.
by Alexandra Elbakyan, during a public lecture on July 12, 2010. Photo: Apneet Jolly/Dead

According to the newspaper, the Washington Post investigates the the united states department of justice, moreover, now, also, the Alexandra Elbakyans, any links to the Russian government. Sources familiar with the matter tells the magazine that she was suspected of working with the intelligence of a referendum, and for stealing us defence secrets.

the hit is coming from the uk, the organization MODEL, which is working with the cyber security in the academic and research community. Andrew Pitt is one of the organization's co-founder, who has been trying to stop The Hub of a number of years. He, too, believe that there is any other intent than to share the research freely available.

" this isn't about copyright, illegal downloading, or journal articles. It is a matter of national security and government spying, " says Mr Pitts.

the MODEL has provided him with a database of thousands of log data breaches from The Hub to over 370 universities around the world. Twelve of them are in Swedish, but they do not have the information on how severe the infringement is.

as In many other cases, however, goes to Andrew Pitts proof were needed that this is nothing more than the scientific studies that is taken home at the intrusion.

" It varies, what is the information that we get from the university. However, it's the same in Sweden as in the united kingdom, the united states and in other parts of the world. The university makes a lot of collaborations with both private industry and the government, and that is the material they are looking for, " explains Andrew Pitt.

- the stolen log-in details. Students and researchers have access to scientific journals, and artikelsamlingar through the library's subscriptions and the credentials can be Seen on the hub to download the material.

the U.s. department of justice is investigating the Alexandra Elbakyans, any links to the Russian government. Photo: Cliff Owen,
That a student's credentials fall into the wrong hands, could sound harmless. However, for those who have the right skills to open the doors, according to Anders Qvist, informationssäkerhetssamordnare at Chalmers university of technology, which is one of the most cited institutions in the MODEL's database.

" Could I come over to your user information, so I had to substantially all of the information you're going to, of course). However, the account can also be a broom chair, in order to get ahead and steal the other things that you may not see any connection from the infected account, " he said.

He was aware that the login details is being abused in the way described by the MODEL, however, the risk and the security has been, according to him, has not been reached by the notice for The Baby.

the list of victims. Informationssäkerhetssamordnaren, Jenny Branch, confirming the misuse of the university's services, but downplaying the seriousness of the situation and believe that it is more of a upphovsrättsfråga.

It has been, in her opinion, haven't even touched on the more-than-scientific papers downloaded in the definition of offences.

" As a university, it is not a whole lot we can do about it. It's not in our system, they get their information from, but we are, rather, a conduit, a way to get to it, " says Jenny Branch.
Jenny, Branch, informationssäkerhetssamordnare at the university of Gothenburg. Photo: Private
She does not believe The Hub is engaged in any form of espionage or intelligence. However, the existence of any such activity to the university from other sources, confirms she's.

" a Professional hackergrupper, often with financial support of the government forces, poses a threat to the institutions of higher education. Their goal is to get into the production network and download the information. You have nothing worth stealing, so this is a threat, " says Jenny Branch.

things such as DNA and medical records, or information about a person's political or religious orientation, can be part of a researcher's raw data. Some of the research may also fall under the Swedish security protection act, which means that the information provided is believed to be of importance to the nation's security.

"It's an issue we're aware of this, and it's all about working within a system of information technology and information security, in order to put as many spokes in the wheel for them as we can, because it's almost impossible to stop them from coming in," says Branch.