TeCHnology

The Swiss data protection commissioner has opened formal proceedings against IT services firm Xplain after hackers gained access to sensitive government data on portals hosted by the private company.

The data watchdog last month launched a probe into the Swiss customs and border security agency and the Federal Police. On Friday, this investigation was widened to include Xplain.

The criminal organisation “Play”, which is linked to Russia, launched a series of ransomware attacks on Swiss media groups and Xplain earlier this year.

This resulted in reams of sensitive data being posted on the DarkNet, including 766 football hooligans whose details were logged on a police database.