In June 2023, coinciding with Ukrainian President Zelensky’s address to the Swiss Parliament, the hacktivist group NoName057(16) launched a series of DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks against Swiss digital infrastructure.

The targets hit

Among the sites and services temporarily disrupted or slowed down:

  • Federal administration portals
  • Swiss Parliament website
  • SBB (Swiss Federal Railways)
  • Swiss Post
  • Swiss banking institution websites

The attacks did not compromise data or cause permanent damage, but temporarily made some online services unreachable.

Who is NoName057(16)

This is a pro-Russian hacktivist group that emerged in 2022, active primarily with DDoS attacks against countries perceived as hostile to Russia. The group operates in a coordinated fashion via Telegram channels, where it publishes its targets and invites supporters to participate.

Unlike economically motivated ransomware groups, NoName057(16) has a primarily political and ideological motivation.

What is a DDoS attack

A DDoS attack saturates a server or network with an abnormal volume of requests until it becomes unable to respond to legitimate ones. It does not “break into” systems or steal data: the objective is service disruption and media visibility.

What this means for Swiss SMEs

A DDoS attack directly targeting an SME is rare — it would require a specific motivation. However, the incident raises some important questions:

  • Dependence on digital services — how long could your company hold out if your website or customer portal were unreachable?
  • Suppliers and supply chain — if one of your cloud service providers is hit, what are the consequences for you?
  • Geopolitics and IT risk — cyber threats cannot be separated from the international context

The NCSC confirmed the nature of the attacks and invited organisations to verify their resilience capabilities in the event of service disruption.

Sources