A seemingly boring financial services provider, Swift takes on a James-Bond like aura.
The Swift cooperative bills itself as «the global provider of secure financial messaging services,» which admittedly sounds rather mundane.
Yet, one of its three operating centers, this one in the Swiss Canton of Thurgau, is getting protection from the Cantonal police, according to a story in the «Neue Zuercher Zeitung» (behind paywall, in German) But why?
Security Perimeter
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted a number of countries to block some Russia-related transactions from the Swift payments system. As a precautionary measure, the Thurgau cantonal police, in consultation with the company, set up a security perimeter around the facility, the «NZZ» said.
«Acts of sabotage, whether physical or digital, guided by revenge cannot be entirely ruled out. One must expect this danger to increase the longer and more comprehensively Russia is prevented from conducting transactions via the Swift payment system,» the report said. Moreover, Swift will have to likely protect itself from a Russian cyberattack.
Swift has two other sites, one in Europe near The Hague in the Netherlands, the other in the United States near Washington D.C.. Intelligence services in the U.S., including the National Security Agency (NSA), were able to view European payment transactions via the U.S. location, prompting the construction of the third center in Switzerland, the report said.
James Bond
The Swift site near the border with Germany appears to be something right out of James Bond. Surrounded by barbed wire, high walls and surveillance cameras, and five of its seven stories underground, not even Cantonal authorities have access.
Bond famously battles villains from the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion better known as SPECTRE.
Perhaps in an upcoming film, 007 will enlist the help of Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to help fight the bad guys.
