iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
Crypto AG was a Swiss encryption-device maker at the center of allegations that the CIA and West Germany’s BND secretly controlled the company and used compromised equipment to read other countries’ communications. Switzerland opened a federal investigation in January 2020. A separate parliamentary oversight inquiry later found that Swiss intelligence had known of foreign services’ involvement since 1993 and had cooperated in collecting information, while political leaders were not informed until 2019.
What was Crypto AG?
Crypto AG was an encryption-device company based in Zug, Switzerland, whose equipment was sold internationally. The 2020 joint investigation by Swiss broadcaster SRF, German broadcaster ZDF, and The Washington Post alleged that the CIA and West German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) secretly controlled the company and used manipulated devices to gain access to communications encrypted by customers. The reporting called the intelligence operation Rubicon. These are reported allegations, not a finding from a public criminal trial.
Accounts differ on when the CIA and BND acquired equal shares through a Liechtenstein foundation: SRF gives 1970, while contemporary reporting by SWI swissinfo.ch gives 1971. The precise year should therefore be treated as unsettled in the published accounts.
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteWindows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallHow did the alleged operation work?
According to the joint investigation, Crypto AG supplied devices in secure and compromised forms. SRF reported that only a few countries, including Switzerland, received the secure version. Customers using compromised devices could have their encrypted communications exposed to the intelligence agencies behind the operation.
#1 Best Overall
Coverage described the alleged targets as more than 100 countries or states. The estimates vary: the Associated Press report said more than 120 countries, while SRF and Swissinfo used a figure above 100. Those are outlet-attributed estimates, not a reconciled official count. Swissinfo summarized the reporting as involving hundreds of thousands of messages among governments, embassies, and military commands; no independently audited total for affected communications or intelligence yield is established in the cited accounts.
SRF’s release quoted University of Warwick professor Richard Aldrich calling Rubicon “one of the boldest and most scandalous operations ever,” and describing states as paying billions to have secrets stolen. That is Aldrich’s assessment; the quoted monetary scale is not an independently verified statistic. The same release quoted former Crypto AG employee Bruno von Ah saying that he and his manager noticed a built-in back door.
Why did Switzerland investigate?
In February 2020, the joint reporting prompted questions about Swiss oversight and whether the country had known about or benefited from the alleged operation. On January 15, 2020, the Swiss government appointed former federal judge Niklaus Oberholzer to clarify the facts in a federal investigation. Reuters reported that the defense ministry said reconstructing events would be difficult. The resulting Oberholzer report was described as classified and was not publicly available in the reporting cited here.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →This federal investigation was distinct from the parliamentary inquiry conducted by Switzerland’s intelligence-services oversight delegation. Its findings, publicly summarized by SWI swissinfo.ch in November 2020, complicated the idea that Switzerland was merely the setting for a foreign operation:
- Swiss intelligence’s predecessor service knew from 1993 that foreign intelligence agencies were behind Crypto AG.
- Swiss intelligence cooperated in collecting information on other countries through the company.
- Political authorities were not informed until 2019; the findings identified shortcomings in government management and supervision and assigned the Federal Council part of the responsibility for exports of vulnerable devices.
- Crypto AG did not supply vulnerable devices to Swiss authorities, but Switzerland benefited from surveillance enabled by the devices.
These are parliamentary oversight findings, not the same document or process as Oberholzer’s classified federal investigation.
What happened to Crypto AG and its alleged owners?
SRF reported that the BND withdrew in 1993, while the CIA retained its shares and continued the operation until at least 2018. In 2018, Crypto AG was liquidated and its business was split into a Swiss concern, CyOne Security, and an international arm, Crypto International, according to the contemporary coverage. Successor companies denied ongoing intelligence ties, as reported by the Associated Press. Those denials concern the successor businesses; they do not resolve the historical allegations about Crypto AG.
Rank #4
What the Swiss case established—and what it did not
The 2020 media investigation alleged a long-running foreign intelligence operation built around covert control of a Swiss encryption supplier. The later parliamentary inquiry established, in its account, that Swiss intelligence knew of foreign involvement from 1993, cooperated in information collection, and did not inform political leaders until 2019. It also criticized government oversight.
The available reporting does not establish a public judicial verdict on every allegation, an independently verified count of intercepted communications or affected states, or the full contents of the classified Oberholzer report. The case is therefore best understood by keeping the media allegations, parliamentary findings, and classified federal investigation separate.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
