Swiss Rail Giant Stadler Rejects $12.3M Ransom Demand After Cyberattack

Swiss Rail Giant Stadler Rejects $12.3M Ransom Demand After Cyberattack 🚆💰

Swiss rail vehicle manufacturer Stadler Rail has made headlines after the Everest ransomware gang demanded approximately $12.3 million following a breach of a data exchange platform shared with one of its suppliers. The company received an extortion letter from the gang, requesting a ransom of 10 million Swiss francs. However, Stadler has firmly stated that it will not pay the ransom and has filed a criminal complaint with the Thurgau cantonal police. Stadler emphasized, “Stadler will not pay any ransom under any circumstances and is therefore not susceptible to extortion.”

Stadler Rail is a prominent multinational Swiss train manufacturer, known for producing locomotives, trams, metro trains, passenger trains, and railway signaling systems. With a workforce of 18,000 across 8 production facilities and 6 engineering sites, the company boasts an annual revenue exceeding $4.9 billion. The incident reportedly occurred in mid-July, but Stadler reassured that neither its IT systems nor production operations were affected and continue to function normally worldwide. According to their disclosure, the hackers only stole technical information from a supplier that is not security relevant. They reiterated, “No relevant personal data was stolen. Stadler’s rail vehicles operating worldwide are not affected by the data theft. Stadler’s global production continues as normal.”

The Everest group, which emerged in 2020, initially operated as a ransomware entity but has since shifted its focus to data theft. They now threaten victims with leaking stolen data unless a ransom is paid. In the past, Everest has sold access to breached networks to other threat actors, acting as an initial access broker. Recently, they launched a new domain after their original dark web leak site was defaced in April 2025 with the message: “Don’t do crime CRIME IS BAD xoxo from Prague.” As of now, Stadler Rail is not listed on the gang’s extortion site.

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