Hackers: data on all Dutch police officers stolen

Hackers have captured the names and contact details of all Dutch police officers, including undercover officers.

E-mail addresses, names and positions of the “entire organization” were skimmed, the Minister of Justice and Security, David van Weel, informed the parliament in The Hague, as reported by the ANP news agency.

“There are certain groups that we are now paying particular attention to, including people working undercover,” explained the minister. According to the ANP, Van Weel did not want to give any details “for security reasons”. However, no data on police investigations or the private data of police officers had been leaked.

According to police chief Janny Knol, a police account was hacked. The exact number of people affected was not given. According to the Ministry’s annual report, there were around 64,000 full-time positions for police officers and other police employees in the Netherlands at the end of 2022.

“This is a nightmare,” said Nine Kooiman, chairwoman of the Dutch police union NPB. The most important thing now is to “shield the data and protect the employees”.

dpa