Swiss defence minister launches probe into alleged spy links with Russia

The SRF report highlights alleged illegal data transfer by the Federal Intelligence Service via the Russian cyber security company Kaspersky to Russian intelligence services, including the GRU military intelligence service. Keystone-SDA

Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister has launched an investigation into the alleged disclosure of sensitive information by the cyber division of the Federal Intelligence Service to Russia. According to Swiss public radio, SRF, this took place between 2015 and 2020.

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SRF based its information released on Wednesday on a secret report by the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS). This allegedly mentions illegal data transfer by the FIS via the Russian cyber security company Kaspersky to Russian intelligence services, including the GRU military intelligence service. Other intelligence services are said to have warned the Swiss intelligence service about this.

There has been speculation in the past that Kaspersky has cooperated with Kremlin and its secret services on various occasions. The company, with which the FIS cooperated, has been rejected by various foreign governments for years.

For Martin Pfister, a functioning intelligence service is of central importance for the protection and security of Switzerland, “especially in the current global situation, which is characterised by uncertainty”, the defence ministry told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday.

The Swiss minister has therefore initiated an administrative enquiry with an external, independent body. This will examine whether the measures from previous investigations have been implemented. In the past few days, Pfister has informed the other six members of the Federal Council, relevant parliamentary committees and the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO).

Investigations already underway

According to the FIS, three investigations into the “incidents in the former cyber division” from 2015 to 2020 were conducted and concluded.

In 2021, following an internal probe, the FIS said it initiated a reorganisation of its cyber division. This included a new division of tasks, a fundamental overhaul of practices in the procurement of cyber data, an expansion of control mechanisms and new management. The FIS was comprehensively reorganised from March 1, 2024.

The FIS says it regrets that SRF, by publishing the contents of the classified FIS report, is deliberately causing potentially far-reaching consequences for the work of the FIS.

Translated from German by DeepL/sb

This article has been updated on June 4, 2025 in order to withdraw an information Keystone-SDA has also withdrawn from their original article in German.

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