Hacker Attacks: Political Events Lead to Flooding of Federal Websites

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The two attacks on the federal government, motivated by so-called ‘hacktivism’, took place in June, as the National Center for Cybersecurity (NCSC) announced in its semi-annual report on Thursday. The first attack followed a decision by the Council of States on the War Materials Act.

The small chamber wanted to make the transfer of war material purchased in Switzerland possible under certain circumstances. A DDoS attack then overwhelmed the Parliamentary Services website with the aim of overloading it and making it inaccessible to users.

The second attack was in response to the announcement of Zelenskyj’s online speech in the National Council Chamber. Federal offices, parliament, major companies, some airports, cities and cantons and the Swiss Bankers’ Association were affected.

In total, the number of cyber incidents reported to the center increased by approximately 2,000 to almost 17,000 in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. The most common reports concerned forms of fraud.

30 percent concerned threatening emails in which the victims were accused of a crime by a so-called authority – increasingly in the name of the NCSC.

Phishing emails came in second, increasing by 40 percent within a year. They made up one fifth of the reports. The main reason for the increase was a campaign against Swisspass customers that lasted almost the entire first half of the year.

At 64, the number of ransomware incidents remained virtually the same as in the first half of 2022 (76). In addition to short-term operational limitations due to encrypted data, the publication of leaked corporate data caused consequential damage that was difficult to quantify.

(SDA)

Source:Blick