Video surveillance in the army shows various security gaps

The Swiss Armed Forces are not sufficiently protected against cyber attacks. Currently, there are problems with the video surveillance of army infrastructures such as weapon ranges or logistics centers. This is the subject of an internal IT audit report by the Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), which was reported on by SRF radio at the end of January.

Obsolete video cameras

The Keystone-SDA news agency, which also had access to the investigation report, summarizes the findings. Among other things, random checks had shown that IT security documents were not available or only available to an insufficient extent. The outdated hardware is also criticized. Most of the video cameras in use are more than ten years old. The Swiss Armed Forces in particular have numerous different video surveillance systems in use, most of which are not networked. Moreover, the operation and maintenance of the video surveillance systems and the management of the systems are decentralized.

Renewal of all video surveillance systems

The report also states that the systems are not regularly checked for IT vulnerabilities at all sites and that important updates have not been installed in some cases. The internal audit of the DDPS therefore identifies a need for action and also reprimands data protection requirements. Responsibilities in this regard are now to be clarified more precisely for each individual site. In addition, an inventory of all video surveillance systems is to be drawn up. Older, analog video surveillance systems would be replaced by digital systems. A uniform surveillance solution is to be implemented at around 30 sites by the end of 2026.