The Swedish Data Center That Looks Like a James Bond Villain’s Lair

April 2, 2017 5:00 am

You won’t find Ernst Stavros Blofeld or Auric Goldfinger down inside this former underground nuclear bunker in Stockholm, Sweden. Instead, 100 feet below bedrock is something even more valuable these days than cash or gold: data

This is where you’ll find the Pionen Data Center, home of Sweden’s largest Internet service provider and row after row of servers, which contain some of the world’s most sensitive information. At one point, the site even included servers for the Internet whistleblowing group, Wikileaks.

Still, whiffs of the James Bond motif are strong. As befitting a lair designed to possibly withstand global catastrophe, the data center’s walls are covered with vegetation and it has former German submarine engines repurposed as backup generators. But those ubiquitous evil henchman with submachine guns are nowhere to be found here, just a small staff of Swedish technical staff that manage the site.

Check out this video from Great Big Story to take a tour:

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.