Security News > 2020 > November > Swiss Spies Benefitted From Secret CIA Encryption Firm: Probe
Switzerland benefitted from a spectacular espionage scheme orchestrated by the CIA and its German counterpart who used a Swiss encryption company to spy on governments worldwide, a parliamentary probe showed Tuesday.
A large media investigation revealed back in February an elaborate, decades-long set-up, in which US and German intelligence services creamed off the top-secret communications of governments through their hidden control of the Crypto encryption company in Switzerland.
In a statement announcing the delegation's findings Tuesday, parliament said the Swiss intelligence service had known "Since 1993 that foreign intelligence services were hiding behind the company Crypto AG.".
The Swiss intelligence service had subsequently benefitted from an "Information collaboration", it said.
According to the revelations in February by the Washington Post, German broadcaster ZDF and Swiss broadcaster SRF, Crypto served for decades as a Trojan horse to spy on governments worldwide.