Dutch Police Hacked by a State Actor

Janny Knol, head of the Dutch police, stated on October 2, 2024, that a “state actor” was behind the hack that targeted her department on September 27, 2024. The negligence of an officer, who opened a malicious link, allowed attackers to access the Dutch police’s Outlook email database.

The cybercriminals were able to steal the names, job titles, phone numbers, and email addresses of the 65,000 police officers in the Netherlands. The Dutch Minister of Justice and Security specified that the breach also affected a “limited number” of the police’s “partners,” including magistrates, lawyers, and probation officers. However, the state actor reportedly did not obtain any data related to ongoing investigations.

Janny Knol did not attribute the attack to a specific group or country. However, suspicions naturally fall on Russia, China, and Iran, the three states most frequently engaged in strategic cyberattacks against the West. Authorities are urging all Dutch police officers to be extremely vigilant about potential phishing attacks and to adopt two-factor authentication for their accounts.