AKIRA Ransomware โฃGroup โIntensifies Attacks in Switzerland
A surge in ransomware attacksโ attributed to the AKIRA hacker group is impacting Swiss โคcompanies, with approximately 200 businesses โalready victimized. The financial damage isโข estimatedโ at several million Swiss francs, and hundreds ofโฃ millionsโฃ of dollars globally.
A criminal inquiry, led by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPC) and coordinated by Fedpol with support โfrom the โFederal Office for Cybersecurity (OFCS), has been underway โas April 2024, focusing โon attacks occurring between May 2023โข and September 2025. International authorities are also collaborating on the case.
Authorities report a notable increase inโ AKIRA-linked attacks in recent months, reaching a record 4-5 instances per week โin Switzerland.
Double Extortion Tactics
AKIRA, active sence march 2023, employs a “double extortion” strategy.they first stealโ sensitive data from victims, then encrypt it, demanding a โransom forโค both its return and to prevent public release on theโ Darknet.
While 200 companies have been identified as victims, authorities believe theโ actual number is higher, โas many businesses chooseโฃ to pay ransoms (typically in Bitcoin) and avoid reporting the incidents to protect their reputations.
Recommendations forโข Businesses
Authorities strongly advise against payingโค ransoms, urging victimsโ to report attacks to facilitate investigations. They emphasize โthat reporting incidents โincreases the likelihood ofโ disrupting these criminal operations.
Key vulnerabilities exploitedโข by โAKIRA include outdated systems โฃand unsecured remote access โคpoints like VPNs โand RDP,notably those lacking โคtwo-factor authentication (2FA).
Inโ the event of an attack, immediate steps shoudl be taken: disconnect all internet connections, verifyโ and secureโข backups, and physically isolate infected systems from the network.
