Switzerland hit by widespread malware campaign

Several security bodies in Switzerland have been targeted by emails that appear to come from official organisations such as banks or the police and contain a password for a zip file. When this file is opened, the computer becomes infected with a trojan called Emotet.

The Bern cantonal police force is one institution that has been affected, the Conference of Cantonal Police Commanders of Switzerland said on Wednesday.

The aim of such attacks is usually to force organisations to cease operations or to extort ransom money.

Many of these emails are real emails that have fallen into the hands of the fraudsters and are now being resent by them, Zurich Cantonal Police warned on Wednesday.

The malware – software designed to damage a computer or server – has been targeting organisations since Tuesday.

The police said that anyone who receives such an email should mark it as spam. The zip file must not be opened. Anyone who has already fallen for the scam must disconnect their computer from the network and switch it off. The network administrator should also be informed and the computer completely rebooted.