cybercrime

The account details of the 250 thousand users of Dutch website Hookers.nl have leaked out after a vulnerability on the website was exploited. A hacker captured the members' data and is offering it for sale, NOS reports based on its own research after an anonymous tip. The website is popular among clients of sex workers, who exchange tips, reviews and experiences in the sex industry. 

The problem extends beyond clients of sex workers. Sex workers themselves are also active on the website. They also may want to not be known as a sex worker with their real names. 

Online platform No More Ransom, launched by the Dutch police, helped at least 300 Dutch people get rid of ransomware on their computers in the three years of its existence. Over 2.5 million people worldwide have consulted the platform, the police said in a statement on Thursday. 

Last year 8.5 percent of Dutch internet users aged 12 years or older fell victim to cybercrime. That amounts to 1.2 million Dutch victims, Statistics Netherlands reported on Wednesday based on a study performed in collaboration with the police. Young people fell victim most often. And the most common type of cyber crime was crime against property - crime in which the perpetrator stole money from the victim, according to the stats office.

The Dutch police are concerned about an increasingly popular development in cybercrime, which the police refer to as cybercrime-as-service. Criminals can now buy cyber attacks easily, cheaply and at any time of day or night, the police said in a statement.

The police took down 10 fake online stores which were made to look like English versions of real Dutch stores on Tuesday. Two suspects, a 40-year-old man from Leeuwarden and a 21-year-old man from Groningen, were arrested.

These English-language sites looked like the websites of real Dutch stores, with web addresses that were very similar to those of recognized stores with a Chamber of Commerce registration. Visitors bought products like milk powder, energy drinks, shampoo, deodorant and alcohol. After payment, the products were never delivered.

This year 11 young hackers between the ages of 12 and 23 were sent to intern at an IT company as part of their punishment. This forms part of the police and Public Prosecutor's experimental program Hack_Right, which aims to get these first offenders back on the right path.

The government is pushing extra money into the police and fighting cybercrime next year. A once off amount of 30 million euros will go to fighting cybercrime, and the police will get an extra 58 million euros, sources in The Hague told newspaper AD.

The extra 58 million euros for the police comes on top of the approximately 260 million euros already being invested.

The falling crime figures in the Netherlands sometimes clash with reality, National Police chief Erik Akerbom said on Wednesday at the presentation of the police's annual results for 2017. Last year crime figures fell by 11 percent, the fifth year in a row that there's been a decline.

Albanian criminals are increasingly playing leading roles in organized crime in Amsterdam, according to a so-called trend analysis by the Amsterdam police. They are mainly engaged in cocaine trafficking, but also in human trafficking and property fraud, NU.nl reports.

According to the police, these Albanian criminals lead the cocaine import from South America, the transhipment via the port of Rotterdam, and the further distribution to other European countries from Amsterdam. In addition to the Netherlands, Albanians are also very active in the drug trade in Great Britain.

The Dutch government and businesses in the Netherlands need to work together to create a kind of national firewall to protect important websites and apps against DDoS attacks, five experts in digital security plead in an open letter, NOS reports.

Currently banks, telecom providers, energy companies and other businesses all individually hire security companies to help prevent such cyber attacks. But that is not enough to stop these types of attacks, the experts warn. If they worked together, they could prevent an attack one one company from having success at another company.

The websites of the Dutch Tax Authority and DigiD were hit by DDoS attacks on Wednesday afternoon. As a result no tax declarations could be filed for hours, and people had trouble logging in to various government websites, NU.nl reports.

The attack on the Tax Authority started around 3:00 p.m., and DigiD was hit around 3:25 p.m. Both sites were fully accessible again by 8:00 p.m.

The attack did not affect the security of taxpayer's data, not even if people were filing declarations when the DDoS attack started, a spokesperson for the Tax Authority said to the newspaper.