Authorities take down Dutch server used in Ukraine cyberattack

The police took down a Dutch server used in cyberattacks on Ukrainian banks and Ministries this week, two Dutch companies involved in hosting the server confirmed to BNR. One of the companies, SKB Enterprise, previously hosted the website of far-right movement Vizier op Links, according to the broadcaster.

DDoS attacks were carried out on the Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday. In a DDoS attack, a site is overloaded with traffic until it crashes. Part of the DDoS attack came through the Netherlands, BNR discovered. According to Ukraine, it was the largest cyberattack on the country ever.

"The attackers abuse servers located in the Netherlands. So from the perspective of the victim, a lot of internet traffic comes from the Netherlands," cybersecurity expert Rickey Gevers said. 

SKB Enterperpise and Spectra BV, the companies that supplied the network to SKB, took the Dutch server used in the attack down at the police's request, they confirmed to the broadcaster. 

SKB Enterprise has a sketchy past, Gevers said to the broadcaster. "SKB Enterprise has previously been involved in controversial and malicious sites. For example, it hosted the website of an extreme right-wing organization. Phishing sites were also run from the SKB Enterprise servers."

The far-right organization in question is Vizier op Links. In 2020 and 2021, this organization posted the addresses and contact details online of politicians, scientists, and teachers who they felt were too left-leaning so that people could harass them at home.

According to Gevers, it is not unusual that this Dutch company made a cyberattack on Ukraine possible and previously provided services for an extreme right-wing group. "With these types of hosting companies, you have a somewhat lower threshold for renting a server. Then you can, for example, rent relatively anonymously and cheaply. It makes this kind of practice possible," he said to BNR.