Philips was one of multiple global companies affected by a major espionage campaign by Chinese hackers, The Wall Street Journal reported. The espionage, called Operation Cloud Hopper, was discovered in 2016 and security researchers believe the hackers have links with the Chinese government.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the hackers managed to steal medical research data from Philips. The company said that measurers have been taken and that no patient data had been stolen.
A 43-year-old man from Amsterdam who was arrested for recording videos with a drone at his hotel in Cairo, has been released, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed. Pieter Bas Habes has been ordered to leave Egypt as quickly as possible, and the Dutch embassy will help him in this. He is doing well, though he needs some time to rest, the Ministry said, NOS reports.
"It is going well and we are very happy", Habes' lawyer said to NOS. The Amsterdam man is expected back in the Netherlands soon. Then more information about his release will be available, the lawyer said.
Pieter Bas Habes, a 43-year-old man from Amsterdam, disappeared after apparently being arrested in Egypt over a week ago. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is doing its "utmost" to find out where he is, the Volkskrant reports.
A Syrian man who was caught spying in Germany for the Syrian state security service must be deported from the Netherlands, where he applied for asylum, the court in Middelburg ruled. He is also banned from entering the Netherlands for ten years, NU.nl reports.
The man came through Germany to the Netherlands in 2017. His wife and children were already in the Netherlands and he came to join them. According to the court, during his stay in Germany, the man passed information about Syrian opposition members residing in Germany to the Syrian security service.
Dutch intelligence and security service AIVD is investigating whether Chinese technology company Huawei has been involved in espionage in the Netherlands, due to concerns that the company has a hidden backdoor to customer data at one the Netherlands' three largest telecom providers - VodafoneZiggo, KPN or the merger of T-Mobile and Tele2, the Volkskrant reports.
The AIVD would not comment to Volkskrant questions about the investigation. Telecom providers also refuse to respond or are unaware of an investigation by the intelligence service.
For the time being, Dutch provider T-Mobile will not stop using Huawei equipment in its telecom networks due to foreign concerns that the Chinese company's equipment is being used for espionage. KPN and VodafoneZiggo are still considering, RTL Z reports after speaking to the telecom companies.
In the United States, Australia and New Zealand, the authorities are concerned that China is using Huawei's equipment for espionage. The countries are therefore barring the Chinese company from tendering for the 5G network, the successor of 4G.
A majority of the lower house of Dutch parliament is very concerned about the communication system for the emergency services and police C2000, which is provided by a Chinese company. "Our communication systems must never be unnecessarily vulnerable", the VVD said. The ruling party and opposition parties GroenLinks, SP and PVV therefore call for the Netherlands to stop using Chinese software for vital infrastructure, RTL Nieuws reports.
Dutch police officers, soldiers, prosecutors and diplomats were spied on by Ukrainian and Russian secret services while they were in Ukraine after the MH17 disaster in 2014, RTL Nieuws reports based on well-informed sources.
Out of fear of being eavesdropped on, Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher did not dare to call Prime Minister Mark Rutte from his cellphone after flight MH17 was shot down in July 2014, Asscher said on television program Jinek.
The Deputy Prime Minister was on holiday in France at the time. Instead of calling the Prime Minister from his mobile phone, he knocked on the door of a neighbor and asked if he could use her landline. "I had to talk to the Prime Minster in The Hague. That you don't do with your mobile. These discussioins might be of interest to Russians or others."
The Netherlands was the target of a record number of cyber attacks last year, according to general intelligence service AIVD's annual report. Most of these attacks came from Russia and China.
Hackers are increasingly targeting the Netherlands and cybercrime and digital espionage remain the biggest threats to the digital security in the country. This is greatly influenced by geopolitical developments, such as international conflicts and political sensitivities.
Cooperation between the Dutch and German intelligence agencies resulted in the identification of a Russian physicist who was spying for the Russian secret service. The 28 year old Ivan A. has since returned to Russia.
Minister Frans Timmermans of Foreign Affairs has announced that the three plane spotters who were held in the United Arab Emirates have been freed, and have been back in the Netherlands since Tuesday morning.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans has asked his colleague from the United Arab Emirates for clarity on the three Dutch plane spotters who have been arrested there, a spokesperson for the ministry said yesterday.
The round-up of some of this week's most noteworthy events and news stories features the debate around switching off freeway lights, the Netherlands having the fastest internet in Europe, three Dutch arrested in UAE for espionage, the Dutch army using by NSA encrypted phones, 1,200 kg heroin discovered in tomato paste, police hunting a missing man, Polare bookstores closing because of money problems, and an Amsterdam alderman who got beat protecting women on a tram.
Three Dutch men were arrested a few days ago, in the UAE, under suspicion of espionage. The men were plane spotters who reportedly photographed prohibited items, according to a spokesperson for the family of one of the victims, a 52-year-old man from Nieuw-Vennep, to press agency ANP.
The round-up of some of this week’s most noteworthy events and news stories features: the negotiations on the Dutch budget, the Russian diplomat Dmitri Borodin causes tension between Russia and The Netherlands under influence of alcohol, and the ongoing struggles of Greenpeace to free the Arctic Sunrise crew, sailing under Dutch flag.
