After pension fund hack: Are other pension funds affected too?
Hackers have attacked a software supplier for the federal pension fund Publica. They may have obtained AHV numbers, salaries, and pension assets. The Bernese pension funds are now also reporting an attack. Other pension funds are in turn checking whether they are among those affected.
As became known last week, unknown parties attacked the company PK Softech. The company provides software to the federal pension fund. Although the company took the affected infrastructure offline and brought in external experts, data belonging to Publica and its insured members was stolen in the attack. However, PK Softech confirms that the data breach only affects its own system and not that of its clients (i.e., the Publica pension fund itself).
What is the situation with other pension funds?
- PK Softech also counts other pension funds among its clients. These include, among others:
- the Bernese Pension Fund (BPK)
- the Bernese Teachers' Insurance Fund (BLVK)
- the Migros Pension Fund
- the Post Pension Fund
- the Syngenta Pension Fund
Several of these pension funds are currently working with PK Softech to determine whether data belonging to their insured members has also been leaked. On Friday, the Canton of Bern reported an additional attack on an external software company used by the Bernese funds. There is currently no evidence of stolen data, but this is being investigated further and information will be provided if necessary.
Source: https://www.publica.ch/
What data has been leaked?
Publica has already proactively informed its insured members via newsletter. Individuals who are already receiving a pension were additionally informed by letter. As the portal Watson reports, the following data could be affected by the incident:
- Name, date of birth, and AHV number
- Address
- Telephone numbers and email addresses
- Pension data (salary, insured earnings, pension assets)
- Information on marital status and partner
It is not yet clear whether all insured members and pension recipients (around 110,000 people) are affected. The only certainty is that pension funds are secure and are being managed and paid out as usual. Employees of the federal administration and parts of the ETH are insured with Publica. If you are one of them, Publica advises you to exercise particular caution in the near future regarding emails or SMS messages that supposedly concern your pension fund. These may be phishing attempts.
I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
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