“Often, standardised security tests are no longer sufficient to uncover hidden loopholes” in official websites or software components, the finance ministry wroteExternal link on Wednesday.
As a result, a centralised platform for bug bounty programmes – initiatives which offer financial rewards to hackers to identify cyber vulnerabilities – will be set up and run by the National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC). This latter will work with Bug Bounty Switzerland SA, a company with expertise in the area and a large existing community of ethical hackers.
The goal is to extend the schemes to cover “as many Federal Administration systems as possible”, with the first projects to start already this year, the finance ministry said.
The decision follows a pilot project run over two weeks in May 2021 which uncovered ten vulnerabilities – one of them critical – in the IT systems of the foreign ministry and the parliament.
A 2019 bug bounty programme also found an error in the source code of the e-voting system developed by state-owned Swiss Post, marking a major setback in plans to roll out e-voting more widely for Swiss citizens at home and abroad.
More
More
Hackers uncover ‘significant’ flaw in Swiss Post e-voting
This content was published on
Hackers reported a major bug in the new Swiss Post’s e-voting system as part of a public intrusion test. Swiss Post has resolved the issue.
Some landslide-hit Swiss village residents able to visit homes
This content was published on
The residents of two hamlets in Blatten, Switzerland, were able to visit their homes following a landslide that devasted the village.
Argentina hack reveals data on thousands of Swiss travellers
This content was published on
Some 11,000 Swiss citizens have had their data illegally made public by Argentinian hackers after blackmail demands were not met.
Easy procedures lead to rise in reported cyberattacks
This content was published on
Switzerland’s competence centre for cybersecurity says attacks on computer systems more than doubled last year compared with 2020.
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.