OSLO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Norway's directorate for emergency communication said that one Indian IT worker had access to the state's public safety network for 14 months and some others for a shorter time, newspaper Aftenposten reported Tuesday.
Norwegian Minister of Justice and Public Security Per-Willy Amundsen had previously asked the directorate for an explanation of how subcontractor Broadnet could have given Indian IT people access that requires security clearance.
According to Amundsen, an error could have appeared in connection with outsourcing.
"Some rights have been given in the system that should not have been, and this was left hanging," the minister said.
In December the directorate received notice from its operator Motorola about a possible deviation from subcontractor's defined operating procedures during a debugging process.
Public broadcaster NRK has also recently reported the IT workers in India, who gained major accesses to the public safety network, had neither valid authorization nor necessary security clearance.
Police, ambulance, fire brigade and hospitals are among the important social functions that depend on functional safety network. The network is to enable fast communication in case of major accidents, natural disasters, police response and acts of terrorism.
The safety network is supposed to be critical infrastructure and vital to national security and should be safer than all other information channels. It is under the law on preventive security and should be operated from Norway.
NRK has seen documented evidence that showed the network being operated from India for a long time. In addition, several independent sources have also confirmed that this unauthorized and illegal access has undergone over time.
With this access, IT workers in India could have with ease shut down parts of the safety network, and the Norwegian authorities could not prevent this, since there is no cooperation between security authorities in Norway and India, NRK reported.
