Bankruptcy Declared After Swedish CEO Target Of Identity Theft

Friday, July 21, 2017 6:20 pm, Posted by Absolute Destruction

As your go-to source for paper shredding in Toronto, Absolute Destruction is no stranger to the topic of identity theft. Sometimes we think we’ve seen it all, but then the unexpected happens. It’s not often a false bankruptcy application is filed, but 2017 is the year that defies the odds of our expectations. That’s exactly what happened to Alf Goransson, the 59-year-old CEO of Sweden’s largest security firm Securitas AB. On July 10, the Stockholm District Court declared the business man bankrupt after his identity was stolen.

The ruling was reversed quickly as soon as Goransson was made aware of the incident, but not before Securitas removed him as the company’s CEO. It turns out his identity was first hacked back in March, at which time it was used to open a personal loan of an undisclosed amount. Four months later, his identity was then used to file for bankruptcy. The application itself was just a single page and didn’t require notarization.

According to an official statement, Securitas is unsure of how his personal information was stolen. Goransson has also not heard any more about the status of his fraudulent loan application, and Securitas is now working on reinstating him as their CEO.

Though the company’s spokesperson claims the theft and bankruptcy have no effect on the company, the news is bad press certainly for a company that prides itself on data security consultations. As one of the biggest security firms in the entire world, it’s bad form to see its CEO so easily targeted by identity theft criminals. Irony aside, it calls into question the firm’s ability to protect its clients from cyber-attacks.

The Swedish caper is a lesson the entire world needs. Sweden leads the way in digitization. The country is slowly becoming a cashless society. Buses, churches, even homeless shelters prefer card or mobile payments over cash. Sweden is also seeing a rise in identity theft. Nearly 13,000 cases of identity theft were reported in the first half of 2017, with Goransson one of them.

The incident highlights the need for strengthened cyber security and personal vigilance in the face of a changing society. Though Sweden is leading in digitization, Canada is close behind. At the time of a 2013 MasterCard study, Canada was third in the world for cashless payments. Since then we’ve eliminated the penny, and now the Mint has its eyes on the nickel. The future where we discontinue all cash may not be far off. According to a Payments Canada survey, 50% of us are ready to abandon cash and coin altogether.

As a result, we’re relying on digital payments more every day. Businesses need to invest in robust security protocols that include the latest firewalls, site certificates, Secure Socket Layers, and internal safety procedures. Any obsolete company electronics should also be destroyed properly through our electronic data destruction services. You can add electronic pickups to our paper shredding services in Mississauga quite easily, as is the case with are our other locations.

As a leading mobile shredding service in the GTA, we can help businesses and individuals all over Southern Ontario. That’s the advantage to our fleet of mobile trucks. We’re a Markham document shredding company as much as we are a Toronto-based company.

Though it’s unlikely to have bankruptcy filed fraudulently in your name, identity theft is still a real threat wherever you live in Canada. Give us a call if you’re ready to beef up your defences against hackers. We’ll help make sure physical evidence of your personal information is never used against

© 2021 Absolute Destruction. All Rights Reserved.