Pro-Russia group hit Swiss govt sites after Zelensky visit in Davos

Switzerland believes that the attack claimed by pro-Russian group NoName that hit the government websites is retaliation for Zelensky’s presence at Davos.

Switzerland believes that the cyberattack carried out by pro-Russia group NoName disrupted access to some government websites, following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Davos.

“We took a look at Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum Davos is currently taking place. Naturally, not empty-handed, but with DDoS gifts” read a message published by the hacker group on its Telegram channel.

The pro-Russian group launched a series of DDoS attacks against several government websites causing temporary disruptions in their accessibility.

“The government said that “the Russian-linked hacker group ‘NoName‘ claimed  responsibility for the attack, citing Ukrainian President Zelensky’s attendance at the WEF annual meeting” in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Davos.” reported the AFP agency.

Switzerland’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) claims that the cyberattack was promptly detected and immediately took the necessary measures to restore access to the targeted websites.

Some of the targeted websites are:

• Authorization on the Davos-Klosters ski resort website
• POOL-ALPIN service provider of the Swiss cable car network
• Swiss Ministry of the Interior
• Rhaetian railway (which goes to Davos)
• “An attack of this kind had been expected, and appropriate security measures were in place.” reported NCSC.

The attacks did not impact the accessibility to the main portal of the Swiss government (www.admin.ch).

This isn’t the first time that the NoName group hit Switzerland, in June the pro-Russia group hit multiple government websites, and the websites of Swiss airports, municipalities and associations.

Swiss President Viola Amherd announced that Switzerland had agreed to organize a peace summit of world leaders towards ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

However, Switzerland has never sent armaments to Kyiv or allowed countries that hold Swiss-made weaponry to re-export it to Ukraine.

Switzerland only agreed to the European Union’s economic sanctions on Russia

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Switzerland)