(Geneva) The Swiss government announced that several of its websites had been victims on Wednesday of the pro-Russian hacker collective NoName, which justified its action by the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“The attack was claimed by the “NoName” group, which had already targeted the federal administration in June 2023. This supposedly pro-Russian group cited as a motive the participation of the Ukrainian president in the World Economic Forum,” which is being held currently in Davos, the Federal Office for Cybersecurity said in a statement.
As a result, “several websites of the federal administration, among others, were temporarily inaccessible,” he explains.
The Federal Office also indicates that “such an attack was expected” before the visit this week to Switzerland by the Ukrainian president and that “appropriate security measures had been put in place”.
Also, he explains, “the cyberattack was quickly noticed”, which made it possible to take measures to restore the accessibility of the websites concerned, including the sites of several ministries.
NoName had already targeted the federal administration in June 2023. At that time, the Ukrainian president spoke on June 15 by videoconference in front of the Swiss parliament.
This time Volodymyr Zelensky came to Switzerland in person. He met his Swiss counterpart, Viola Amherd, in Bern, the capital, on Monday before attending the World Economic Forum in the famous Alpine resort of Davos on Tuesday.
Following his meeting with the Swiss president, the Ukrainian president announced to the media that Switzerland, which by virtue of its neutrality cannot participate in a war opposing other states, had agreed to organize a “summit on peace” in connection with the conflict in Ukraine.
Its date must still be determined, as well as the terms of participation.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Switzerland has firmly insisted on its military neutrality. It therefore refuses to send weapons to Ukraine or to authorize countries, including Germany, to re-export Swiss-made weapons to Ukraine, which has sometimes earned it criticism from Kyiv.
But it has nevertheless aligned itself with international sanctions targeting Russia, and the Ukrainian president also welcomed Switzerland’s humanitarian support on Monday, particularly in terms of mine clearance.