Swiss secret service had links to more companies linked to Russia

The Swiss secret service is under scrutiny for Russian company links SRF

The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) worked closely for several years with two more controversial companies connected to Russia or the software provider Kaspersky, Swiss public broadcaster SRF has learned.  

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Highly sensitive data is alleged to have been leaked to Russian intelligence services, according to an investigation by SRF Investigativ.

Kaspersky was not the only connection between the FIS cyber team and Russia between 2015 and 2020. Two other important companies have notable connections.

+ Swiss secret service links with Kapersky revealed

SRF Investigativ has seen an internal investigation report that lists a number of “regular contacts” with Kaspersky and two other provider companies, which will be referred to as ‘Blue’ and ‘Violet’.

Although the provider company Blue is based in Zurich, it was founded by two Russian nationals and one Swiss citizen. The company also recruited staff in Russia, as relevant forums reveal.

+ Spying game: what does the Swiss intelligence service do?

FIS also established contact with Blue in Russia: “The relationship began (…) in 2016 or 2017 in Moscow,” the secret report states.

Data provided

The FIS cyber team and the provider company Blue worked closely between 2015 and 2020. The company allegedly provided data from its servers at least a dozen times. According to the secret report, the FIS also had direct access to Blue’s servers—how this was technically implemented remains unclear.

When asked, the company denied any ties to FIS or Russia, saying it adheres to all applicable Swiss laws.

+ One in four Russian diplomats in Switzerland ‘a spy’

According to the list in the secret report, Violet, alongside Kaspersky and Blue, was one of the cyber team’s three most important partner companies at that time.

Kaspersky payments

Violet also operates servers in Switzerland and was “the most important source of information” for the intelligence agency’s cyber team. According to the report, there were “meetings in the canton of Ticino” and “fondue dinners in Bern.”

According to the secret report, the company Violet attracted attention due to its “dubious customers.” Russian hackers in particular seemed to enjoy using the servers.

This server data was of particular interest to the FIS cyber team, which is tasked with investigating hacker attacks. A kind of triangular relationship with Kaspersky now existed. The provider company Violet also worked with the Russian cybersecurity firm for several years.

FIS apparently took advantage of this. The Swiss secret service had Kaspersky transfer payments to Violet. Whether these were payments for server data or other considerations remains unclear.

The company Violet did not respond to a request from SRF Investigativ.

Criminal investigation

What are these corporate contacts of the cyber team all about? When asked by SRF Investigativ, the Federal Information Service declined to comment on the matter, stating that it generally “does not comment on classified reports to the media.” The cyber team has since undergone a comprehensive reorganization.

Confronted with the SRF Investigativ investigation, defence minister Martin Pfister initiated an external administrative investigation last week.

According to research, criminal proceedings are also underway – the supervisory authority for the intelligence service AB-ND has filed a criminal complaint.

Adapted from German by DeepL/mga

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