Swiss Ministry Hit by Computer Attack

Swiss Ministry Hit by Computer Attack

Unidentified hackers have penetrated through IT security to the Swiss foreign ministry's computer system to seize data, forcing parts of it to be shut down for several days, the ministry revealed Monday.
The "professional virus attack" allowed outsiders to gain access through the broadband connection to the computer system to obtain unspecified information, the ministry said in a statement.

"Unknown perpetrators used special software in this attack to reach the ministry's IT infrastructure and to acquire specific information," the statement said.

"In concrete terms, foreign ministry staff cannot use the Internet for the time being but can use the internal network," spokesman Georg Farago told the Swiss news agency ATS on Monday.