Hackers steal wages from at least three universities

AFP 10 October 2020

Unidentified cybercriminals have managed to siphon off employee salary transfers from at least three Swiss universities, including the University of Basel, reports AFP.

“According to our information, several universities in Switzerland have been affected,” said Martina Weiss, secretary general of the Rectors’ Conference of the Swiss Universities, confirming to the AFP news agency a report in the Sonntags Zeitung. The hackers used access data obtained through phishing, a technique designed to lure internet users into providing personal data.

According to the Basel public prosecutor’s office quoted by the Sonntags Zeitung, the hackers infiltrated the universities’ system directly with the stolen personal data and changed the beneficiaries’ accounts for the payment of salaries. The cybercriminals embezzled a six-figure amount, the office said. It added that part of the misappropriated funds was now in foreign accounts.
Full report on the Swissinfo.ch site

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