Publica

Summary

Publica, the Swiss federal pension fund, confirmed a data leak after a cyberattack on an external software supplier. The fund said it is working with Swiss authorities to determine what data was affected and how extensive the leak is, and that the Office of the Attorney General has opened an investigation. According to reports, the compromised data included members’ names, AHV numbers and salary information, though Publica has not verified those details or disclosed how many individuals are impacted. The fund stated it has notified policyholders about the breach and its possible consequences, and that pension payments and fund operations continue unaffected.

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Description

At the end of September an external software supplier detected a cyberattack on its systems and subsequently filed a criminal complaint while informing the relevant federal authorities, Publica and its other customers. Publica, the Swiss federal pension fund, confirmed on Thursday that it had been exposed to a data leak as a result of that supplier attack, emphasizing that its own systems were not directly hacked. Following the confirmation, the Office of the Attorney General opened an investigation into the incident. Publica stated that it and Swiss authorities are working to determine which specific data was affected and how far the leak extends. The fund has not identified the supplier and noted that no other federal entities have a business relationship with the company.

According to a report cited in the media, the data taken from the supplier’s systems included members’ names, AHV numbers—which are Switzerland’s national social security identifiers—and salary information. Publica has not confirmed the accuracy of that report and has not disclosed how many individuals may be affected. The fund also has not stated whether banking details, account balances or any other financial information were part of the compromised data, nor whether any of the information has been published online. No attacker has been named, no ransom demand has been disclosed, and officials have not confirmed whether the incident involved ransomware. Publica has informed its policyholders about the breach, outlined the potential consequences and described the measures taken in response, while its communications director Beatrice Rychen remarked that for the fund this represents the worst possible outcome.

A Publica spokesperson told the Swiss outlet Watson that pension payments will continue to be paid as usual and that the attack has had no effect on the fund’s ongoing operations. Publica manages pensions for employees of the Swiss federal government and affiliated organizations, including staff of the Federal Administration and the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology domain. At the end of 2025 the fund had approximately 70,000 active members and 41,600 pensioners, with total assets just under 45 billion Swiss francs, equivalent to about 54 billion US dollars. Publica stated that it and Swiss authorities are working to determine which specific data was affected and how far the leak extends.

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