How Russian hackers (unintentionally) exposed Swiss bank transactions of Putin confidants

Switzerland is threatened with “scandals like the Nazis’ looted gold,” the “Tages-Anzeiger” wrote in an editorial published on Thursday. The reason is the extensive research conducted by an international team of journalists.

Accordingly, Swiss banks have maintained business relationships with senior Russian officials and Putin confidants despite sanctions and money laundering accusations. Watson has also reported on the #ZurichLeak.

The conclusion of the “Tages-Anzeiger”:

The French-language Swiss television RTS played a key role in the investigation. He reported on Thursday evening in the ‘Temps Présent’ program about the data breach and the far-reaching consequences for the local financial center.

A report on the revelations appeared in advance on rts.ch on Thursday. And it also highlighted Watson’s role in the #ZurichLeak: this news portal made the hacker’s attack public, which made the journalistic investigation possible in the first place.

The French-language Swiss television writes:

Who is behind it?

What is striking in the reporting of the Swiss media companies involved in the investigation: RTS names the financial service provider involved, but does not mention which gang of cyber criminals is behind the leak.

Justification of RTS:

The ‘Tages-Anzeiger’ is different: the report confirms that the company was attacked by the ransomware group ALPHV, which “then temporarily published the data on the darknet.” On the other hand, there is only mention of a “data breach of an asset manager from Zurich” without mentioning the name of the company.

The “Tages-Anzeiger” explains:

The fact that both reports do not elaborate further on the infamous ransomware gang, which made all the revelations possible in the first place, can be explained by media ethics considerations. As is known, the blackmailers hope to put extra pressure on their victims with their threatening letters on the Darknet and induce them to pay the requested amounts. Any form of publicity can help cybercriminals in their actions.

When Watson disclosed the ransomware attack and data theft last February, they deliberately avoided detailed reporting on the breach and only outlined the extent of the data theft.

Since ALPHV is one of the most dangerous ransomware gangs in the world, it was important to make those potentially affected aware of the corresponding high potential for damage. There was particular fear of follow-up attacks as a result of the hackers leaking customer data.

RTS and the partners of the international media consortium subsequently decided to secure and analyze the leaked data, as there is a public interest in knowing what it contains.

Investigators then obtained court documents, searched commercial databases and interviewed anti-money laundering experts, academics and activists to corroborate and interpret the leaked data and confirm the backgrounds of the problematic Russian bank customers.

Apparently with resounding success, as French-language Swiss television also confirmed:

Irony of history: ALPHV is a Russian-speaking gang, whose leaders are believed to be in the Russian Federation, responsible for making questionable bank details of wealthy Russians public.

Some Watson users probably know the gang; They were responsible, among other things, for a devastating cyber attack on the Austrian state of Carinthia, but also for an attack on the airport service provider Swissport. The recent attack on the casino and hotel chain MGM Resorts is also attributed to this, although there has not yet been a claim of responsibility on the darknet.

What are the consequences of the revelations about the Swiss financial center?

This cannot be predicted.

Austrian IT security consultant Florian Schweitzer asked about the latest revelations

And then he guessed:

At a political level, the revelations have sparked discussions in national and international politics. There has long been criticism that Switzerland is not doing enough to enforce sanctions on Russia and secure hidden oligarchic assets.

The news magazine “Spiegel” notes:

The Basel Institute on Governance is an independent, international non-profit organization committed to preventing and combating corruption and other financial crimes and strengthening governance worldwide. The organization also helps Ukraine, among other things, in detecting and seizing illegal assets worldwide. Director Gretta Fenner chose clear words for the “Tages-Anzeiger”:

According to the RTS report, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) confirmed that it had opened 30 criminal proceedings on suspicion of sanctions evasion by Swiss companies and carried out 22 independent seizures in connection with the sanctions against Russia. To date, 7.5 billion in Russian assets have been frozen by the federal government. However, the international community complains that this is only a fraction of Russia’s assets in this country.

Sources

With material from the Keystone-SDA news agency