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The Lantero system supports multiple login methods, including username and password, BankID, SSO (Single Sign-On), and two-step authentication. In this post, we want to emphasize two-step authentication or BankID, which we encourage users, particularly handlers, to use. With two-step authentication, users first enter their username and password. Lantero then sends a one-time code to the user's email, and the user enters this code to complete the login. If email is not available at the time of login, a one-time code can be requested via SMS. The main advantage of using this form of login is that it provides much better security than logging in with just a username and password. If you, as a Lantero customer, want to change the login method, please contact us at Lantero, and we will assist you! Lantero's approach is to constantly meet the security needs of our customers, where login is a crucial part. This means that methods and their implementations are continuously evolving. In addition to the existing options, we are open to dialogue with our customers, leading to new possibilities and adjustments—either for the solution as a whole or for individual customers' implementations. In the near future, the BankID implementation will be upgraded and modernized, and we will provide more details in a later blog post.

The Örebro District Court has convicted a technician involved in vehicle inspections for bribery. (Länk) The man is said to have accepted bribes to approve cars. The case follows a pattern where bribes often occur at the intersection of the private and public sectors. Vehicle inspections can be considered a delegated exercise of authority since it is an activity sanctioned by the public and funded with public resources. The problem is often linked to sparsely compensated officials representing significant values in their duties and, therefore, having incentives to capitalize on these values. It is somewhat less clear whether the official's compensation level has any substantial statistical significance when it comes to bribes. It is conceivable that control over values in the form of permits, licenses, or the like, exerts sufficient allure regardless of the official's current income level. Lantero frequently receives questions about what falls within the scope of whistleblower laws (The Whistleblower Act), and in such a case, it is certainly possible to interpret it as a whistleblowing case. Publicly sanctioned activities that control or regulate traffic safety are considered a matter of public interest, and bribery that risks undermining traffic safety or the legitimacy of regulatory authorities (and operations with delegated exercise of authority) must be regarded as serious. In the current case, however, it is unclear whether it has been brought to light through whistleblowing reporting and has bearing upon the Whistleblower Act.

The EU has observed increasing activity of malicious influence from foreign interests. A report has now been adopted to counter influences that threaten the integrity of European institutions. This will protect the Union's openness and other fundamental values. The initiative seeks to deal with problems around conflicts of interest and the influence of the democratic processes. It also aims to create better follow-up and accountability regarding violations. The pattern is recognized that corruption occurs where financial resources and power are managed or controlled by politically appointed individuals. The risks are naturally present in all types of organizations, but follow-up and control often seem to be lacking in public operations. Furthermore, a recurring pattern is that measures tend to be about follow-up and control rather than taking the more laborious route of removing the incentive structures that invite the problems. More about the initiative can be read here.

Lantero holds a seminar on setting up and working with a whistleblowing system. The seminar is primarily aimed at companies and organizations between 50 and 250 employees, who under Swedish legislation will be subject to new whistleblowing requirements from the end of 2023.  The seminar is led by Andreas Wahlström. We discuss concrete issues and start from both legislation / practice and practical experiences from more than eight years in the industry.  Date: June 14 Time 3.30-4.15 PM CET Registration is done here. 

In May, the American SEC paid out 279m USD to a tipster who alerted the authorities of bribes within Ericsson. The payout is linked to the rule that says a whistleblower can receive 10-30 percent of the fine imposed on a company, in this case Ericsson's $1.06 billion fine, linked to a corruption scandal. Article on the subject here.

The Whistleblower Directive establishes structures for internal handling of misconduct through processes for reporting and handling cases. Depending on how you look at it, it could be a move towards bypassing the union, with its traditional role. Or a step towards making common cause with the union and mobilizing more internal resources to curb work-related problems. In the newspaper Transportarbetaren (Swedish), the lawyer Jessica Berlin is interviewed about her view of the law, how it works and what significance it may have.

Lantero works to ensure that the requirements under the Whistleblower Act are not only easy to live up to, but that the work also strengthens the organization and its culture. As a natural extension of our goals, we have now established a collaboration with PocketLaw, which packages other legal services digitally to make available effective tools for contract management, signing and information sharing, as well as templates for various types of legal documentation. The partnership means that Lantero's clients will receive a 15% discount on all PocketLaw's packages for the first 12 months. Read more and register here.

The requirements for whistleblower solutions in the public sector in Sweden have existed since the summer of 2022. Now the media have started to follow up on how the new channels are being used. When newspapers request information on the whistleblowing services, under the public transparency legislation, the authorities will have to adhere to the confidentiality protection they must maintain vis-à-vis both whistleblowers and suspected wrongdoers. Depending on how the individual authority interprets the confidentiality requirement, one can be variously restrictive with the information. From time to time, the media gets some insight into the type of cases that come in and are dealt with in the whistleblower channels. An example is an article in Läkartidningen (major Swedish publication for physicians), which reviews the cases that have come to the health service authorities since the law came into force. As in other types of operations, the channels are often used for cases that should not be considered whistleblowing cases, but which could still be valuable to catch. Common demarcation problems are when work-related conflicts become so serious or systematic that, based on the fact that it concerns public activity, it can be argued that the matter is of public interest.

After focusing on basic functionality and managing the significant influx of customers in 2022, in 2023 Lantero has shifted its focus towards improving the user experience and meeting specific customer wishes. Much of the work that is done will be most noticeable in that the handling in the system will flow more smoothly, that the user experience will be more intuitive and that the necessary information will be available when and where it is needed. Other functionality is more concrete and reflects the usability needs from our customers. Some examples of the changes in the service: - It is now possible to see when the whistleblower last engaged in the chat - Administrators can put their own name on cases - We have added an internal handling log, where case managers can, for example, make notes about activities during the handling of a certain case - Improved functionality for the PDF generation, with more information and greater flexibility when and how the PDF can be created - It is possible to enter customer-specific instructions for individual processing steps, so that e.g. processes, contact persons or standard texts can be added (contact Lantero if interested) - More options for login: connect to the organization's Single Sign-on (SAML) or use a 2-factor login for increased security (contact Lantero if interested) We appreciate further dialogue about how we can make our service as good as possible, so don't hesitate to get in touch with your thoughts and opinions. This can apply both to the whistleblower service and other related needs.

During a seminar on March 9, The Institute Against Bribery presented current statistics on bribery in Sweden. Overall, few cases go to prosecution and the number of cases that go unnoticed is considered to be large. But there is still much to learn from the available statistics. As before, the typical criminal in these cases is male, but there is a trend towards ever younger perpetrators. The picture remains that the greatest risk is in the meeting between public clients and private contractors. The transport and construction sectors continue to be particularly affected. For more detailed statistics, IMM's report (in Swedish) is available on the web.