Swiss foreign ministry allegedly attacked by computer hackers

The number of cyberattacks against targets in Switzerland has increased in past few years and the threat "is very real", according to the Swiss intelligence service. © Keystone/Gaetan Bally

The Swiss authorities have dismissed reports about cyberattacks from Russia against the Swiss foreign ministry.

The National Cyber Security CentreExternal link (NCSC) said it had no knowledge of targeted cyberattacks against Swiss government units or critical infrastructure carried out in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Keystone-SDA news agency reported on Sunday.

However, it added that the defence against so called phishing attacks using fraudulent email messages in to obtain sensitive information was part of the daily routine of the Swiss intelligence service.

The SonntagsBlick newspaper reported that Russian hackers had sent phishing mails to the Swiss foreign ministry over the past few weeks.

The weekly quotes a confidential report by the Swiss intelligence service, claiming the attacks were successfully identified and repelled.

The newspaper report doesn’t provide any official confirmation of the hacker attacks, but it speculates that Russia could try to spy on the preparations of an international conference on Ukraine, hosted by Switzerland next week.

Hotspot Geneva

In its latest reportExternal link, Switzerland’s Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) last week said espionage is an “ever-present phenomenon. (…) Geneva, as an international centre, remains an espionage hotspot.”

FIS director Christian Dussey said his service had noted a “steady increase in espionage activities in Switzerland over the past few years.”

In an interview with the TagesAnzeiger newspaper, he also said that the “threat of cyberattacks has grown and it is very real”.