Suspicion of espionage DDPS launches administrative investigation into FIS-Russia contacts
Federal Councillor Martin Pfister has initiated an administrative investigation into the alleged transfer of sensitive information from the cyber department of the Federal Intelligence Service to Russia. According to an SRF investigation, this took place between 2015 and 2020.
04.06.2025, 10:58
04.06.2025, 11:55
SDA
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRF based its investigation on Wednesday on a secret report by the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS). The report allegedly mentions illegal data transfer by the FIS via the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky to Russian intelligence services, including the GRU military intelligence service. Friendly intelligence services are said to have warned the Swiss intelligence service.
Kaspersky has already been accused of cooperating with the Kremlin in Moscow and its secret services on various occasions. The company, with which the FIS cooperated, has therefore been shunned at government level in a number of countries for years.
For Defense Minister Pfister, a functioning intelligence service is of central importance for the protection and security of Switzerland, "especially in the current uncertain world situation", the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) said on Wednesday at the request of Keystone-SDA.
Pfister has therefore initiated an administrative investigation by an external, independent body. This will examine whether the measures from the previous investigations have been implemented. In the past few days, the head of the DDPS has informed the other members of the Federal Council, the parliamentary committees GPDel and SiK as well as the SFAO.
Several investigations already underway
According to the Federal Intelligence Service, three investigations into the "incidents in the former cyber division of the FIS" from 2015 to 2020 were conducted and concluded.
In 2021, following an internal investigation, the FIS said it initiated a reorganization of the cyber division. This included a new division of tasks, a fundamental overhaul of cyber data procurement practices, an expansion of control mechanisms and new management. The FIS was comprehensively reorganized as of 1 March 2024.
The Federal Intelligence Service regrets that SRF is deliberately accepting potentially far-reaching consequences for the work of the FIS by publishing the contents of the classified FIS report, writes the FIS.
