"This is a nightmare"

Netherlands: Hackers steal all police officer data

Hackers have stolen the names and official contact details of all police officers in the Netherlands, including those working undercover. However, the Ministry of Justice said on Friday that no data relating to police investigations had been hacked.

E-mail addresses, names and the positions of the "entire organization" had been siphoned off, the Minister of Justice and Security, David van Weel, told parliament in The Hague. This was reported by the ANP news agency.

No investigation data leaked
"There are certain groups that we are now paying special attention to, including people working undercover," the minister explained. According to 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, one police account was hacked. The exact number of people affected was not disclosed. 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.

Police union: "This is a nightmare"
"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", she explained.