Malware: School, Switzerland 2025
At the end of January 2025, a hacker attack caused technical problems at the Zurich grammar school; among other things, projectors stopped working.
- Incident · 01.2025 · Zurich, Switzerland
- Evidence: confirmed by an authority
- Malware
As of
What happened
Pupils had to set new passwords for their email, and the school called in experts. According to the cantonal Office for Secondary Schools and Vocational Education, the attackers had no access to personal data, which is stored externally with the canton; lessons continued.
- Affected
- Realgymnasium Rämibühl
- Industry
- School
- Loss
- no reliable figure
- Business interruption
- unknown
- Ransom demanded / paid
- unknown / unknown
- Data affected
- unknown
- Bankruptcy
- no
- Entry point
- not stated in the sources
What would cyber insurance have paid?
That depends on the terms. Whether those affected were insured: unknown.
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Immediate help in an emergency
Hotline, IT forensics, crisis PR and legal advice
Mostly covered 7 of 9 business products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
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Costs of getting data, software and systems running again
Mostly covered 6 of 9 business products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
Overview based on public policy terms, as of 06.11.2026. Only your policy and its general terms and conditions (GTC) are binding. No confirmation of cover.
What we can learn
If sensitive data is stored centrally and separately, an attack on the school IT remains a technical problem.
Sources
- Zürcher Gymnasium wird Opfer eines Hackerangriffs (opens in a new window) Netzwoche (gestützt auf Tages-Anzeiger und SRF) · 13.02.2025
«Die Wiederherstellung der Systeme sei aktuell noch im Gange.»