Major hacking operation allegedly targeted Swiss government ministers

A key goal of the operation, writes the paper, was to identify high-profile people who criticised or threatened to expose wrongdoing by Qatar, which will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup opening in a couple weeks. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

A large-scale computer spying operation allegedly targeted Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis and interior minister Alain Berset according to an investigation published in the British paper the Sunday Times.

The reportExternal link, published on Saturday evening in collaboration with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, alleges that a “gang” of Indian hackers targeted the private email accounts of more than a hundred senior international politicians, journalists, and people in the sports world. Among those who were hacked are two members of the Swiss government – foreign minister Ignazio Cassis and interior minister Alain Berset.

The hacking of the two senior members of the Swiss cabinet is said to have happened in May, after Cassis, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency, visited the then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The investigation also identifies a Swiss private detective as one of the key sponsors of the hacking operation. The private investigators that hired the hackers were working for “autocratic states, British lawyers and their wealthy clients,” writes the paper. One method used by the hackers was phishing emails that allow someone to access the email address and even the computer contents.

A key goal of the operation, writes the paper, was to identify high-profile people who criticised or threatened to expose wrongdoing by Qatar, which will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup opening in a couple weeks. A key target was high-profile people linked to FIFA, the world football governing body, based in Zurich. Michel Platini, the former head of European football, was hacked shortly before he was due to talk to French police about corruption allegations relating to this year’s World Cup.

The head of the Indian computer company at the heart of the operation denied targeting the people identified by the Sunday Times. However, the paper indicated that journalists had gone undercover in India, posing as private investors, which helped them gain access to the gang’s database, which revealed the “extraordinary scale of the attacks”.

In a response to requests by Swiss media outlet TamediaExternal link, a Sunday Times journalist indicated that there is proof an Indian subcontractor carried out the instructions from a Swiss private investigator to target Cassis and Berset. However, he was not sure if the hacking was successful. There has been no public statement from the federal government confirming these reports.

Last week Swiss public television SRF revealed that Qatar orchestrated a large-scale and long-standing intelligence operation against FIFA officials with the help of former CIA operatives and that Switzerland was a key theatre of operations. The investigation indicated that an IT company based in India had been involved in the spying operation.