![\"Workers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/589270660_highres.jpg\")
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Fitters fix an element during construction work on Swissgrid’s high-voltage line grid project. Energy is a critical infrastructure sector. <\/p>\n
Keystone \/ Peter Schneider <\/p>\n
The threat of malicious attacks on Swiss power, telecommunications and transport is rising in tandem with armed conflict and artificial intelligence capabilities.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0a risk for the Alpine nation, but also for its European neighbours, in an increasingly connected world.\n<\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
April 27, 2026 – 09:00\n<\/p>\n
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\n I cover international relations with a focus on Switzerland, lead journalistic investigations, and conduct deeply personal interviews on challenging topics.
\nOver 25 years in journalism. Graduated from Moscow State University’s Faculty of Journalism and the French Press Institute in Paris. Former TV\/radio host in France and Russia. I am a published author and documentary filmmaker who has interviewed presidents and rock stars. <\/p>\n
Barely a day goes by without a\u00a0new cyberattack\u00a0on\u00a0Switzerland\u2019s critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n Facilities vital to a stable society and economy \u2013 from energy and finance to healthcare,\u00a0food\u00a0and transport \u2013 face near-daily assaults from the likes of criminal gangs or hostile states,\u00a0according to the government\u2019s first semi-annual release of data on the problem.<\/p>\n That\u2019s\u00a0a concern not just for Switzerland. The mountainous central European country is a hub for energy, telecoms and transport links between Germany,\u00a0France\u00a0and Italy. Its hydroelectric dams high in the Alps act as\u00a0giant batteries<\/a>, helping to smooth out Europe\u2019s volatile solar and wind generation by storing and releasing power as needed.<\/p>\n \u201cCyberattacks do not stop at organisational, industry or national borders,\u201d said Florian Sch\u00fctz, Director of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC),\u00a0which\u00a0published\u00a0half-year\u00a0figures on critical infrastructure at the end of\u00a0March.\u00a0\u201cAlongside the persistent threat posed by cybercrime, organisations must also contend with increasingly sophisticated attacks by state-sponsored actors pursuing strategic interests.\u201d<\/p>\n Critical infrastructure operators, ordered from last April to reveal any cyberattacks within 24 hours,\u00a0reportedExternal link<\/a>\u00a0145 of them during the second half of last year, the centre said.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Swiss Politics\n <\/p>\n Why Switzerland is struggling with its national defence\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Feb 26, 2026 <\/p>\n Switzerland\u2019s neighbours increasingly see the country\u00a0as\u00a0a potential weak link in\u00a0European security.\u00a0But at home defence\u00a0is hardly a priority on the political agenda.\u00a0 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Why Switzerland is struggling with its national defence\u00a0\u00a0 As well as tightening reporting rules,\u00a0Switzerland\u2019s Federal Council\u00a0is\u00a0drawing up\u00a0plans\u00a0to strengthen its response to\u00a0threats, including drafting laws by the end of this year on standards for reliability and resilience, and protecting data essential to security.<\/p>\n Recent events in Europe illustrate the risks of sabotage and spying by adversaries. The French national cybersecurity agency suspects attacks in the second half of 2025 on public services, telecoms,\u00a0finance\u00a0and transport involved groups with links to Russian and Chinese intelligence services, according to the NCSC\u2019s\u00a0security report.<\/p>\n While Switzerland\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0appear to suffer from any\u00a0cybersabotageExternal link<\/a>\u00a0on industrial systems in that same period, Luxembourg\u2019s mobile network was knocked out for hours on July 23, affecting emergency phone numbers, internet\u00a0access\u00a0and online banking services.<\/p>\n The world is changing, strikes on infrastructure and the \u2018new kind of warfare\u2019:<\/p>\n Ukraine,\u00a0Iran\u00a0and\u00a0artificial intelligence\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East only elevate the threat, with Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine entering a fourth year and Iran retaliating against\u00a0bombing\u00a0from\u00a0the US and Israel\u00a0by targeting their foreign interests and allies.\u00a0The spread of artificial intelligence adds to risks, with AI company Anthropic warning this month that its latest\u00a0MythosExternal link<\/a>\u00a0model\u00a0had found decades-old vulnerabilities in software used widely in critical infrastructure\u00a0and that such information could be used to crash systems remotely.<\/p>\n Christian Dussey, Federal Keystone \/ Alessandro Della Valle <\/p>\n \u201cSwitzerland must view its security situation within a global context,\u201d Federal Intelligence Service Director Christian\u00a0Dussey\u00a0said on the release of the agency\u2019s most\u00a0recent situation reportExternal link<\/a>\u00a0last July. \u201cThe global confrontation affects us directly. Our strategic radar is currently tracking 15 crisis hotspots simultaneously. We have never experienced such a density of threats.\u201d<\/p>\n The country is vulnerable to cyber or\u00a0physical assaults by state actors\u00a0who\u00a0seek\u00a0to harm other nations, alliances or institutions\u00a0that rely\u00a0on Swiss critical infrastructure, the intelligence agency\u00a0wrote\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0report.<\/p>\n Switzerland at\u202fcentre\u00a0of\u202fEuropean\u00a0grid<\/p>\n One such example is Switzerland\u2019s key role within the European electricity system.<\/p>\n The so-called\u00a0synchronousExternal link<\/a>\u00a0network\u00a0links up\u00a0countries\u2019 power grids across the continent,\u00a0allowing them to balance out any excess demand with supply from other parts of the region. Switzerland is a hub for electricity transmitted across the Alps between Europe\u2019s\u00a0largest economies, as well as for storing reserve energy in its hydroelectric reservoirs.<\/p>\n Wolfgang Kr\u00f6ger, Courtesy of <\/p>\n Still, what makes the structure efficient and reliable, also\u00a0makes it\u00a0vulnerable.External link<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cCascading failures across borders are possible and have happened,\u201d Wolfgang Kr\u00f6ger, an emeritus professor at\u202ffederal technology institute ETH Zurich and a specialist in\u202finfrastructure risk, told\u00a0Swissinfo.<\/p>\n \u201cDisturbances and abnormal load flows can penetrate into the Swiss grid from the outside;\u00a0they need to be managed effectively by the system\u00a0operator,\u201d he said. \u201cThe biggest vulnerabilities may result from potential cyberattacks as the network of growing complexity is controlled, monitored and managed by sophisticated digital systems.\u201d<\/p>\n The first successful cyberattack on an electricity grid took place in Ukraine in 2015 as Russian hackers plunged 230,000 consumers into darkness. More recently, American agencies\u00a0warnedExternal link<\/a>\u00a0in April that Iranian-linked hackers were targeting US power and water.<\/p>\n Vulnerabilities from cyber to transport<\/p>\n Beyond energy, Switzerland is central to Europe\u2019s\u00a0fibre-optic backbone, routing large volumes of the continent\u2019s internet traffic through its exchange points.\u00a0Its\u00a0rail and road freight network is also tied into regional supply chains, delivering everything from food to\u00a0hightech\u00a0parts and equipment essential for European manufacturing.<\/p>\n In 2023, a single broken train wheel led to a derailment that blocked the\u00a0Gotthard Base Tunnel<\/a>, the world\u2019s longest and deepest railway tunnel and a crucial thoroughfare for cargo between Germany and Italy. It took more than a year for the tunnel to fully\u00a0reopen.External link<\/a><\/p>\n Given its mountainous terrain, the country has often had to respond to\u00a0such\u00a0incidents.<\/p>\n \u201cSwitzerland has a tradition of addressing and managing rare or high-consequence events, notably natural hazards,\u201d\u00a0Kr\u00f6ger\u00a0said. \u201cMalicious attacks are treated separately.\u201d<\/p>\n The country has so far avoided the kind of kinetic attacks on infrastructure suffered by other European nations. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk last year blamed Russian\u00a0intelligence\u00a0agentsExternal link<\/a>\u00a0for blowing up railway lines with military grade plastic explosives.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Inside SWI\n <\/p>\n Our newsletter on geopolitics <\/p>\n Switzerland in a fast-moving world. Join us to follow the latest Swiss foreign policy developments. We offer the perfect immersive package. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Our newsletter on geopolitics Resilience, redundancy,\u00a0replacement<\/p>\n Such events show the need for preparation against physical attacks on infrastructure.<\/p>\n Authorities need to ensure high resilience not just by avoiding disruptions but being prepared for rapid restoration or replacement of services. That includes stockpiling parts that are difficult to\u00a0procure\u00a0at short notice, such as large power transformers, as well as running predictive simulations to find weak points, according to\u00a0Kr\u00f6ger.<\/p>\n In February, Switzerland\u2019s\u00a0Federal CouncilExternal link<\/a>\u00a0said\u00a0it would move forward with plans to improve the resilience and data security of systems essential to the country\u2019s economy and daily life, including energy,\u00a0healthcare\u00a0and telecoms.\u00a0The measures would\u00a0bring in\u00a0binding standards for reliability of critical infrastructure and clearer rules on how sensitive data must be protected by federal authorities,\u00a0cantons\u00a0and operators.<\/p>\n Further action that might\u00a0introduce\u00a0essential redundancy into systems so they can cope with a crisis,\u00a0would\u00a0likely be\u00a0expensive as spare equipment\u00a0has to\u00a0be bought and stored. As a result, Switzerland needs to be clear on who will carry the\u00a0burden\u00a0of funding them.<\/p>\n Someone\u00a0will have to pay<\/p>\n \u201cFinancing costly measures to strengthen resilience needs a clear legislative framework and regulatory mechanism, for example, to compensate private companies with public\u00a0funds and\/or consumers [paying] a slight increase of electricity tariff,\u201d\u00a0Kr\u00f6ger\u00a0said.<\/p>\n Such funding needs will come on top of defence spending that\u2019s already increasing.<\/p>\n
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\nemeritus professor at ETH Zurich and a specialist in infrastructure risk. <\/p>\n![\"Newsletter](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/newsletter_teaser_foreign_affairs.jpg\")
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