Red Cross hit by massive cyberattack
- Hackers seized the data of more than half a million extremely vulnerable people, including some who had fled conflicts
- The breach has forced the humanitarian group to shut down computer systems underpinning a programme that helps reunite separated families
The International Committee of the Red Cross was the victim of a massive cyberattack in which hackers seized the data of more than 515,000 extremely vulnerable people, some of whom had fled conflicts, it said on Wednesday.
“A sophisticated cybersecurity attack against computer servers hosting information held by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was detected this week,” it said in a statement.
“The attack compromised personal data and confidential information on more than 515,000 highly vulnerable people, including those separated from their families due to conflict, migration and disaster, missing persons and their families, and people in detention.”
The body, which has its headquarters in Geneva, had no immediate indication as to who might have carried out the attack.
It said the hackers targeted an external company in Switzerland that the ICRC contracts to store data. There was no evidence so far that the compromised information had been leaked or put in the public domain.