A series of web attacks hit several Swiss banks and municipalities on Tuesday morning, with the Zurich Cantonal Bank, the Vaud Cantonal Bank, and the municipalities of Lucerne, Adligenswil, Kriens, and Ebikon being particularly affected.
The Federal Cyber Security Authority (Bacs) confirmed the attacks, stating that such incidents were expected during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
The attackers used a type of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, overloading the targeted servers with massive requests until they became unreachable.
These attacks can be seen as a form of digital protest, aiming to draw attention to a cause. However, no data was compromised in the process.
A hacking group, known for similar attacks in the past, is believed to be behind the incident. The group often justifies its actions by claiming to punish Western countries for their political decisions.
This group previously made headlines in June 2023, when it launched a similar attack on the federal government, transport companies, and cities, in response to the planned appearance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Swiss parliament and Switzerland’s decisions on weapon exports.
Zelenskyy is set to appear at the WEF in Davos today, at 2:30 pm, and the timing of the attacks is likely not a coincidence.
Although the cyber attacks were disruptive, they were quickly mitigated. The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of continually protecting Switzerland’s IT infrastructure against such threats.