Star Metro - Swiss probe intelligence leaks to Russia

The ministry was responding to revelations by the public broadcaster SRF, based on an internal report from the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), which said an officer in charge of the cyber team allegedly transmitted highly sensitive information to the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky -- which then ended up in the hands of Russia's GRU spy agency.

Two friendly intelligence services alerted FIS officials to the leaks, the public broadcaster said.

They threatened to "cease cooperation with the FIS if the employee continued to work for the FIS", the broadcaster quoted the intelligence service's internal report as saying, due to the danger these leaks posed to their own operations.

The case spans from 2014-2015 to at least the end of 2020, according to SRF.

The Swiss officer justified the collaboration with Kaspersky by citing a need for access to cyber tools that the small FIS -- which has a few hundred employees -- could not provide due to lack of expertise and resources.

The officer in question ultimately left the service in 2020.

For Swiss defence minister Martin Pfister, a reliable intelligence service is of paramount importance for Switzerland's protection, "especially in the current global situation marked by insecurity", his ministry told Keystone-ATS.

Pfister has launched an administrative investigation led by an external and independent body, which will go over the work of previous investigations -- including those done within the FIS.

The collaboration with Kaspersky is surprising for a Western intelligence service, as many experts believe the cybersecurity giant has ties to Russian intelligence.

In 2024, the United States banned Kaspersky products and services from US territory.

Kaspersky has always firmly denied any links between its cybersecurity services and Russian spy agencies.

D.Fraser--SMC