Swiss defence ministry foils cyber attack attempt by malware seen in other global hacks

tech2 News StaffSep 15, 2017 21:20:20 IST

Switzerland’s defence ministry has foiled a cyber attack by malware similar to that used in other global hacking campaigns, the government said in a statement on 15 September.

Representational Image. Reuters

The attack was detected in July by software that operated much like the Turla malware family, it said.

The government declined to give information about the origin of the attack or say if any damage including data theft had occurred. It cited security considerations.

Government specialists took counter measures and an investigation is underway, while criminal charges have been lodged with federal prosecutors against persons unknown to them.

The Turla spyware was detected in 2014 and suspected of infecting hundreds of government computers and military targets across Europe and the Middle East.

Several security researchers and Western intelligence officers say they believe the malware in those attacks was the work of the Russian government.

In other news the US Treasury Department announced it has imposed sanctions on 11 entities and individuals for supporting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for cyber attack against the US.

The sanctions announced on Thursday targeted one entity engaging in supporting IRGC ballistic missile programme, two Ukraine-based entities supporting designated airlines, and two Iran-based networks responsible for cyber-enabled attacks against the US financial system.

With inputs from multiple agencies