Since becoming an enhanced member of NATO in 2014, Sweden has seen an uptick in hacking and the spread of fake news.
So as Erik Brattberg, director of the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Tim Maurer, co-director of its Cyber Policy Initiative, report for BBC News, the nation is taking multiple steps to fight possible Russian election interference in its upcoming September elections for prime minister and parliament.
Sweden's approach involves government working with the private sector, social media companies, broadcasters and newspapers.
A "Facebook hotline" has been created to allow officials to quickly report fake Swedish government Facebook pages. Facebook itself has pledged to report suspicious behaviour around the election to Swedish authorities.
A nationwide education programme has been launched to teach high school students about propaganda and a leaflet distributed to 4.7 million homes includes tips on spotting such misinformation.
Some 7,000 government officials have received basic training in spotting "influence operations" and how they could put the elections at risk.
Public awareness has been raised further by the willingness of Swedish officials at all levels of government to discuss openly the threat of interference.
(...)
Cyber-security is being improved across government and work is under way to raise awareness of the risks of hacking and disinformation.
Brattberg and Maurer offer examples of other western countries paying closer attention to Russian threats and say that if Sweden's multi-pronged efforts are successful, the United States and others might want to consider implementing them.
Read more: How Sweden is preparing for Russia to hack its election (BBC News)