Swiss federal councilor Alain Berset was the victim of a data breach that made his address, private email and home phone number public after a company he used to buy cryptocurrency was hacked, Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche reported.
French tech firm Ledger SAS, which offers services including the purchase, storage and security of cryptocurrencies, suffered a cyberattack in June 2020 and Berset was among the customers whose data was compromised, the newspaper said.
Berset’s address and phone number in the canton of Fribourg could be found on the dark web, a part of the Internet where stolen personal data is sometimes sold, according to the newspaper.
Berset is the minister for Switzerland’s Department of Home Affairs, which has been a lead agency for the Alpine nation’s coronavirus pandemic response. A spokesperson for the department confirmed to Le Matin that Berset “bought cryptocurrencies a few years ago privately, in order to understand how they work”.
The spokesperson didn’t give the amount the politician invested nor whether he still owned any cryptocurrency. Berset was previously unaware of the data breach at Ledger, the person said.
Ledger says on its website that it warned its customers by email after the 2020 cyberattack. It also says their assets have never been threatened, and that no information concerning specific amounts or transactions was stolen.
