Switzerland Today

Greetings from Zurich!

As if it’s not hard enough studying for a degree, students at the University of Zurich now have to deal with a cyberattack.

More on that later, but first here are the top stories of the day.

Museum Rietberg Zurich

In the news: looted art, short-changed refugees and more assisted suicides

• Eight Swiss museums have put their hands up to exhibiting dozens of artefacts that were stolen from the former Kingdom of Benin by pillaging British soldiers in 1897.
• The number of suicides assisted by the EXIT organisation rose 15% last year to 1,125 people who chose to end their lives in this way.
• A Lucerne politician is helping 36 Ukrainian refugeestake the canton to court to demand more money to get by on day-to-day.

Keystone / Roland Schlager

Hack attack

Zurich is the latest Swiss university to be targeted by cyber criminals who have hacked its IT systems, causing havoc.

Students and staff have been advised to change their passwords, but the university believes it spotted the cyberattack in time and has thwarted the hackers.

The university described the hack as a “professional” attack most likely linked to a spate of hacks on other universities in German-speaking countries.

It’s another reminder of just how vulnerable IT systems can be. Switzerland has seen its share of cyberattacks that have targeted transport systems, municipalities and other key infrastructure.

Last year, the University of Neuchâtel was hacked by malicious software in a cyberattack that forced the temporary shutting down of its IT systems.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack so it’s hard to pinpoint the motives of the hackers.

But experts point to the possibility of ransomware demands, taking sensitive information of students or to steal research.