The probe did however judge that the agency did not correctly interpret sections of the law on information secrecy, and obtained some information illegally, the defense ministry said on Monday.
An investigation was opened at the start of this year regarding information gathered by the FIS’s cyber division between 2015 and 2020, concerning possible cyber-attacks in the country.
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Swiss secret service worried about Russian cyber operations
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The Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) is worried that Russia could use Swiss servers in its campaigns to destabilise western democracies.
While gathering data about potentially malicious actors – including directly from internet providers – the FIS neglected to get the required authorisation of a federal court. The practice was stopped as soon as the FIS was alerted to the problem in 2020.
Ex-federal judge Niklaus Oberholzer, who led the administrative inquiry, said on Monday that while the practice did not amount to criminal activity, it did amount to a bad interpretation of the legal situation, in that the FIS did not properly consider certain provisions of the law on information secrecy.
The final report into the affair was classified as secret. However, the defense ministry published an overview of the main results, as well as an extract of the recommendations proposed for the FIS, hereExternal link.
The classified findings have been sent to the relevant parliamentary committee as well as the watchdog which oversees the secret services.
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Swiss private companies invest CHF18 billion in research
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Media investigation targets activities of Swiss intelligence services
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Switzerland’s secret service is facing renewed criticism due to its data collection practices concerning political parties and NGOs.
NGOs oppose extension of Swiss secret service powers
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Swiss secret agents should not be given additional powers to monitor terrorists, say NGOs, trade unions and left-leaning political groups.
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