Hackers from India allegedly attacked Cassis and Berset – the order to do so came from Geneva

Indian hackers have attacked more than 100 people worldwide, the Tages-Anzeiger reported on Saturday, citing an article in the British Sunday Times. The heads of sports associations, journalists and high-ranking politicians from different countries are said to have been the target of the hacker attacks, which have taken place in recent months. In the latter case, the hackers mainly targeted British ministers and the two federal councilors Ignazio Cassis and Alain Berset.

The cyber criminals would have been tasked in May this year to attack Federal President Cassis and Federal Councilor Berset, the Tages-Anzeiger writes. The timing shouldn’t have been a coincidence: a few days earlier, Cassis had visited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and then Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in London. The subject of the talks was sanctions against Russia.

Ambushed

According to the “Sunday Times”, the boss of an Indian IT company that is supposed to offer hack attacks on demand, was tricked: The journalists pretended to be English private investigators who wanted to place an order. The entrepreneur then boasted about his hacker attacks on “high-ranking people”; including those associated with the FIFA World Football Association in Zurich. Among the victims are said to be former UEFA president Michel Platini, whose computer was hacked shortly before he was forced to testify before French police about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The order for the cyber attacks on federal councilors Berset and Cassis is said to have come through a private investigator from Qatar. It is a French-speaking Swiss who works for several companies in Geneva, for which he provides company information. He allegedly ordered the Indian company to carry out the hacker attack on the federal councilors. However, the man denied this to the “Sunday Times”. Qatar also denied hiring hackers.

The Tages-Anzeiger continues to write that it is unclear whether the cyber attacks were successful. A member of the British investigative team confirmed to the newspaper that there was evidence that the hackers were carrying out the order from Geneva. However, it is not yet clear whether they have succeeded in stealing data. (i.e)