Swiss departments hit by Xplain cyberattack

Several Swiss government departments have been hit by a cyberattack on computer company Xplain, the daily newspaper Le Temps reported this Saturday.

“The police of several cantons, the navy and the Federal Police Service (Fedpol) were indirectly affected by this cyber attack,” the newspaper added.

Contacted via this means of communication, Andreas Levinger, director of Xplain, a Swiss IT services company, confirmed the cyber attack and said he had contacted the National Cybersecurity Center for help.

“We will be able to officially report the exact moment of the attack and the size of the data theft only when the authorities make the information public,” he explained.

The official also said the company had “no contact” with the hackers. “We will not pay the ransom,” he said.

According to Le Temps, the cybercriminals have already published some of the stolen data on the darknet.

Several Swiss government departments have not yet responded to Agence France Presse/AFP requests for comment).

When questioned by AFP, Fedpol confirmed that Xplain informed him “of a ransomware attack he was the victim of.”

As far as is known, the Fedpol projects have not been affected so far, not least because Xplain does not have access to this data, having anonymous simulation data for testing purposes, according to a federal police spokesman.

“We still do not know if and to what extent the data stolen from Xplain will be published in correspondence with its clients. Given the ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further on the procedure,” he added.

The Federal Service for Customs and Border Control, for its part, told the newspaper that the data of the correspondence with Xplain were affected, but the service itself was not.