NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) – 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 business that used to buy cryptocurrency was hacked, Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche.
French technology firm Ledger SAS, which offers services including cryptocurrency purchasing, storage and security, suffered a cyberattack in June 2020 and Berset was among the clients whose data was compromised, the newspaper said.
Berset’s address and phone number in the canton of Friborg can 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 of the Swiss Department of the Interior, which has been a lead agency for the response to the coronavirus pandemic in the Alpine nation. A spokesperson for the department confirmed to Le Matin that Berset “bought cryptocurrencies a few years ago privately, to understand how they work.”
The spokesperson did not give the amount the politician invested or if he still owned any cryptocurrency. Berset was unaware of the data breach at Ledger, the person said.
Ledger says on his website that he warned his customers by email after the 2020 cyberattack. He also says that his assets have never been threatened and that no information on specific amounts or transactions was stolen.