Hacker attack on the International Red Cross

The International Red Cross (ICRC) reported the incident late Wednesday night. Personal data and confidential information of more than 515,000 vulnerable people were stolen in the attack, it said. People separated due to conflict, migration and disasters, missing persons and their families were also affected, it said. But it also includes detained people, the ICRC writes.

ICRC worried about personal protection

The data came from at least 60 national societies, the Red Cross, also known regionally as the Red Crescent. The international aid agency discovered the attack this week, it said.

It said the ICRC is particularly concerned about the potential risks the attack poses to the people and their families the Red Cross is trying to protect and support. That's because it makes it possible for confidential information to be leaked to the public, he said. It is still unclear who may have carried out the hacking attack.

The cyberattack was directed against an external company in Switzerland. The ICRC has commissioned this company to store data. According to the aid organization, there are no signs yet that data has been leaked to the public. It said the International Red Cross is working closely with its humanitarian partners around the world to assess the extent of the attack and take appropriate measures to protect its data in the future.

ICRC appeals to hackers

The ICRC's director general, Robert Mardini, issued an urgent appeal to the hackers on the aid agency's website. "Their actions could potentially bring more suffering and pain to those who have already endured untold suffering. The people, the families behind the information you now have, are among the least powerful in the world. Please do the right thing. Don't share this data, don't sell it, don't leak it, and don't use it in any other way."

Affected systems shut down

The IDE said it was appalled and stunned that this humanitarian information could be targeted and compromised. "This cyberattack puts people who already rely on humanitarian assistance at even greater risk." He said the attack jeopardizes the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which try to reunite family members who have been separated by disasters, conflict and migration.

The ICRC has been forced to shut down the systems needed to do that, he said. The organization is trying to find alternative solutions as soon as possible so that work can continue, he said.