On the 16. In March 2015, traveling with a Team of Ruag to Hannover, at the electronics trade fair Cebit the future of the state defense company. Markus Zoller, then the chief of the Defence Division, propagated in a lecture the Internet as the battlefield of tomorrow, where hackers fight with digital weapons. The fits to the command output by CEO Urs Breitmeier, who sees in Cyberspace a “priority for investment”. Short: Cybersecurity is booming, and the Ruag wants to earn money. A Lot Of Money.
The specialists to conquer this new territory, are also to Hannover travelled. Two Ruag technician to speak publicly for the first time about your product: a self-developed Cyber-defence weapon – a kind of alarm system against hackers. The “Ruag Traffic Analyzer” (RTA) at a corporate network to connect and detect intruders automatically.
Only The wonder of the thing is not ready for the civilian market, as it is today, three former Ruag employees are saying according. Not 2015, and not later.
The technicians know that the automatic detection of “hostile” Code problems. And that the application of the device is so complex that test customers such as Swisscom, give it back at a loss. At the end of the Ruag stops the development of the product, without having to bring it to market.
Worse still, On that day of March, 2015 rage in the internal Ruag-company network for six months, presumed Russian hackers. Undetected. According to statements by insiders, the RTA will be connected in 2015 as a test to the own network – the enemy attacker you don’t notice anyway. Only a hint of a foreign intelligence service makes the Hack in January 2016 busted. The Ruag plunges into a severe reputational crisis, as the attack is known.
in Short: The self-developed alarm system does not work in-house.
The Flop RTA is not an isolated case. Internal documents and Interviews with Ex-employees reveal a chaotic organization of the cyber Department as well as the unrealistic targets of the Ruag-top to CEO Urs Breitmeier.
“The Funny company”
The story begins in the year 2011. At that time, the Ruag of Swisscom has recruited a Team of IT specialists. The group brought self-developed programs for the analysis of data streams – this formed the Basis for the later “Ruag Traffic Analyzer”.
The IT technician would not fit in so well to the military-authoritarian Ruag culture. “We were sequestered, the Weird of the company,” says one who has worked for a long time. “Some of us were very young and inexperienced.”
This was prevented by a forecast of the Management not because of the division with a big future – again and again. In annual reports is of a “comprehensive Expansion of the offer” (2012), “essential progress” (2013) and “Europe-wide market breakthrough”, the aspiring (2014).
Video: Like a Manager, Ruag as a Cyber-company oversold
the announcements module high-gloss brochures, promotional films and aggressive growth forecasts: On an internal Ruag film by June 2016, the Management is expected for 2020, with 100 million Swiss francs Cybersecurity-income.The reality was quite different. A second internal foil from October, 2017 (excluding an Acquisition) items of income of 7.5 million – significantly below Plan.
had not at that time been long known that the “Traffic Analyzer” was ready for the market. An Insider says the Order to stop the project had never arrived so right with him: “That was never promulgated directly. It was easy at some point, we would have no more Budget.” The Ex-employees believed that the prototypes around today are still unused in a laboratory corner.
Ruag writes upon request, the program behind the RTA is that it is still in use, but only for secret orders, which executes the Ruag for the command support base of the army (FUB).
A spokeswoman for is the cyber division today as an internal Start-up, with the “above-average growth opportunities,” ‘ve hoped for. Now that most of the activities are discontinued or sold to, have to do mainly with the decision of the Federal government, the Ruag split.
But it’s not that simple, as a second example shows. Under the title “Cyber Training Range” was built, the Ruag training centre for the defense of attacks. IT-specialists of energy companies, or banks should be able to train a crisis in real-time.
Only: The offer is over aimed at the market. Most of the time, the centre was empty. Ruag are confirmed to not have the “Training Range”, because it “corresponded to the needs of the market of Swiss and European companies”.
From internal Figures show that the group was so alone in 2017, over a Million. Since 2011, the Ruag, which is presented today, Thursday your a result of 2018, has invested at least ten million Swiss francs of development funds into the business field of Cybersecurity.
Parmelins letter
Because of the development of a product line was not changed, the Ruag-top-of-2016 the strategy. Buy instead of build yourself the new Credo was. 20. December 2016 announced that Ruag will acquire the UK’s cyber company Clearswift, the IT Security Software has to offer. Purchase price: around 62 million Swiss francs – the largest Ruag purchased for years. New total 230 Cybersecurity would work-experts for the group.
Behind-the-Scenes shook professionals head over to the purchase – all in VBS. Ruag CEO Urs Breitmeier informed Federal councillor Guy Parmelin one week before the public announcement – orally, at the owner’s conversation, 13. December. The VBS had “very late” from the purchase, writes a spokesman today.
The relationship between the Federal government and the Ruag was already charged. In the VBS, it was of the opinion that the company will take the Russia Hack is not serious enough. The case Clearswift further deterioration of the relationship. Specialists asked themselves: of all people in the cyber division, which also oversees secret orders for the Army leaders, should be given to the British people for clear, swift influence?
The Irritation increased, as a clear, swift-CEO Heath Davies in the summer of 2017, even as the chief of the newly established Business Unit, Cybersecurity was promoted. The Briton has undergone no safety testing. Nevertheless, he was also the Team that ran the highly secret IT contracts for the army. As the VBS realized this in the late summer of 2017, wrote the Federal Council Parmelin Ruag immediately in a critical letter.
Ruag confirmed the VBS that Davies did not have access to classified information. This, in turn, irritated critics in VBS: As the chief was to lead his division without using some Assumed to be able to do so on its talk?
The situation was alleviated only months later, in March 2018, when the Federal Council decided to Ruag in a “Swiss” and “international” part of the split. The Federal government removed the cyber specialists with the secret orders from the responsibility of Davies and introduced it to the new Ruag of Switzerland. “The security check was no longer necessary,” writes a spokeswoman.
in the summer of 2017, as the Decomposition of the Ruag stand already to the debate, spoke to CEO Urs Breitmeier of the area of Cybersecurity in the coming years, “substantially expand”. Today, not even two years later, is no more talk.
“Warm air”
On 18. March 2019 embarks a Team of Ruag to the media centre of the Federal house, where VBS Director Viola Amherd (CVP) proclaims the new future of the Ruag. The Federal Council has decided how he wants to dismantle the group: The part of the company, the waits for planes and tanks of the army, as a Ruag Switzerland closer to the VBS. The Rest will be privatized as an aircraft and aerospace company. What does not fit into the Portfolio. Also, Clearswift, according to the Ruag profitable.
What, on that Morning in Bern no one says: Although the Ruag has invested 100 million Swiss francs, will remain after the clear, swift-sale of once-230 cyber experts, just 18 left. The dream of cyber war – burst.
You have to go into a new business field, I’ve never understood, says an Insider today. “The Whole thing was hot air,” says a Second. “Would have voted for the own advertising, the Ruag to the Cyber-world leaders – but it was just advertising.”
(editing Tamedia)
Created: 27.03.2019, 22:03 PM
