Hackers steal Swiss police and customs data
Hackers have published data from the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) and the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) on the Darknet, after exploiting a vulnerability on the servers of the company that hosted it, Le Temps newspaper reported on Saturday.
Cantonal police and the army are also indirect victims of the cyberattack, according to Le TempsExternal link. The unprecedented attack highlights the vulnerability of IT service providers, says the paper.
Fedpol and the federal customs office confirmed on Saturday the publication of the data but played down the damage. Software provider Xplain told Fedpol about the attack a few days ago, according to a Fedpol spokesman. He said that according to current knowledge, no Fedpol projects were affected and Xplain only had access to simulated, anonymous data for test purposes.
A spokeswoman for the federal customs office said data from the FOCBS itself had not been affected, only data stolen from correspondence with its clients. She said an investigation had been opened.
Switzerland has seen a rising number of cyberattacks in recent years, including on local authorities, doctors’ surgeries, a guardianship service, media companies and economic giants such as ABB and Swissport.
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.