Imagine you’re a business owner in the U.S. relying on third-party IT services to help manage your everyday operations. One day, you learn that your IT supplier has been hacked, and your company’s sensitive data has been exposed. To make matters worse, your online services are now under attack by a determined group of hackers.
Such a scenario is not fiction; it’s a real-life situation faced by the Swiss government. The cybersecurity incidents reveal the complex threats that organizations and governments face when using third-party services to host data and publicly expose online services.
Data breach due to ransomware attack
On a fine Tuesday, the Swiss government disclosed that it had been affected by a ransomware attack on Xplain, a Swiss technology provider. Xplain supplies software solutions to various government departments, administrative units, and even the country’s military force. The perpetrators, known as the Play ransomware gang, breached the IT company on May 23rd, 2023, and claimed to have stolen various documents containing private and confidential data, financial and taxation details, and so on.
When the attackers couldn’t extort Xplain into paying a ransom, they published the entire dump on June 1st, 2023. The Swiss government now believes that the stolen data likely belongs to the Federal Administration, although investigations into the contents and validity of the leaked data are still ongoing.
DDoS attack by ‘NoName’
As if the data breach wasn’t enough, the Swiss government faced another cybersecurity issue. In a second press release, they warned of access problems to various Federal Administration websites and online services. The cause? A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack launched by NoName, a pro-Russian hacktivist group targeting NATO-aligned countries and entities in Europe, Ukraine, and North America.
Several Federal Administration websites became inaccessible on June 12th, 2023, due to the DDoS attack. The government’s specialists quickly noticed the attack and began taking measures to restore accessibility to the websites and applications as soon as possible. It’s worth noting that NoName had previously attacked the Swiss parliament website when its members discussed whether the country should abandon its neutrality to send aid to Ukraine.
Why should U.S. business owners care?
These incidents show that no organization or government is immune to the ever-evolving cybersecurity threats. As a U.S. business owner, you must understand the risks associated with using third-party IT services and take proactive steps to protect your company’s sensitive data.
Ask yourself: Are your IT service providers secure enough? Is your data safe in their hands? Are you prepared to handle a cyberattack on your online services? If you’re unsure about any of these questions, it’s time to take action.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Contact us today to learn how ZZ Servers can help safeguard your business from cyber threats.
