The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Hackers demand millions in ransom for stolen Stadler Rail documents

hack
Stadler is unwilling to negotiate with the hackers. Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

The hackers who stole data from Swiss train manufacturer Stadler Rail in early May have demanded payment of a ransom of $6 million (CHF 5.8 million) in Bitcoin. 

“Stadler is not and has never been willing to make payments to blackmailers and has not entered into negotiations,” a spokesman for the company told press agency AWP on Friday, confirming a report in the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper.  

When faced with the company’s refusal to negotiate, the hackers published some of the stolen documents on the internet. A cache of internal Stadler documents was shared via an anonymous Twitter message. 

According to the message on the social network, accompanied by images, the perpetrators of the attack claim to have no less than 10,000 documents representing a data volume of 4 gigabits. The blackmailers gave Stadler a second chance to pay the ransom “before the publication of Part 2″. 

According to the Tages-Anzeiger paper, the images published concern documents relating to loans and bank contracts as well as a tax agreement with the canton of Thurgau and a construction project in Altenrhein. However, the stolen data appears to be old documents. 

Stadler Rail revealed that it has initiated criminal proceedings and is cooperating with all the relevant authorities. At the beginning of May, the company’s internal monitoring service had found that the computer network had been attacked. 

Other cyberattacks 

Around two weeks ago Swiss academic establishments were also victims of a separate cyberattack that targeted several research institutions in Europe. The attackers targeted supercomputers at leading Swiss research centres including the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich and Lausanne, as well as the University of Basel and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre in Lugano.  

The intrusion is being investigated by the Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI) commissioned by the government to protect critical infrastructures in Switzerland. 

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

The start of the holiday season means long traffic jams on the Gotthard

More

Gotthard traffic queue hits 11km at start of holiday season

This content was published on The start of the summer holidays saw a long traffic jam in front of the Gotthard tunnel on Saturday. Traffic jams between Erstfeld and Göschenen in canton Uri were up to 11 kilometres long early in the morning.

Read more: Gotthard traffic queue hits 11km at start of holiday season
Study: Rhine could become up to 4.2 degrees warmer by 2100

More

Rhine could warm by 4°C by 2100, scientists warn

This content was published on The water temperature of the Rhine River could rise by up to 4.2° degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to the warming planet, scientists warn.

Read more: Rhine could warm by 4°C by 2100, scientists warn
'Leopard 1 A5' combat tanks in Germany.

More

Switzerland eyes joining EU rearmament programme

This content was published on The Federal Council wants to explore the possibilities of joining the European Union’s €800-billion rearmament programme without compromising Swiss neutrality.

Read more: Switzerland eyes joining EU rearmament programme
Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day

More

Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day

This content was published on On July 14, the Swiss Air Force will take part in the traditional air parade in Paris to mark the French bank holidays with an F/A-18 fighter jet. This is a first for Switzerland.

Read more: Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR