Hackers target the Swiss town of Montreux

It is unclear whether the latest cyber attack resulted in public data being stolen, Swiss public radio RTS reported on Monday. Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella

Hackers have carried out a cyber attack against databases belonging to the Montreux authorities in southwestern Switzerland. This follows a similar hack earlier this year against the Rolle municipal authorities, also in canton Vaud.

It is unclear whether the latest attack, which was identified on October 10, resulted in data being stolen, Swiss public radio, RTS, reportedExternal link on Monday.

“The attack may be one to two weeks old at the most,” Dounya Schürmann-Kabouya, spokesperson for the Riviera Security Association (ASR), told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA on Sunday.

Emergency security measures have been taken and a crisis cell has been set up with the cantonal police. An in-depth analysis is being carried out with external experts and federal and cantonal specialists.

RTS said the Montreux hack resembled the one targeting the town of Rolle, also on Lake Geneva, earlier this year. In May, a group of hackers obtained information, including personal email accounts, passwords and logins, from Rolle databases. Thousands of files were posted on the Darknet – a secretive part of the internet often used by criminals – when ransom demands were rejected.

The group later threatened to target other municipalities, companies or hospitals.

Ransomware attacks by hackers continue to increase sharply in Switzerland, with some 2,700 Swiss firms falling victim over the past year, Beobachter magazine reported last week. Large organisations such as Stadler Rail, defence contractor Ruag and price comparison website Comparis have suffered recent attacks.