In keeping with native media stories, two 17-year-olds have been arrested by Dutch authorities on suspicion of spying for pro-Russian hackers.
The youngsters, who haven’t been named by police due to their age, had been reportedly arrested final week “on suspicion which can be linked to government-sponsored interference.”
In keeping with stories, the daddy of one of many boys claimed that his son had been contacted by hackers through the Telegram encrypted chat messaging service, and had walked round areas of The Hague within the neighborhood of the headquarters of Europol and Eurojust in addition to a number of embassies with a Wi-Fi-sniffer that maps networks.
The Canadian embassy in The Hague was allegedly one of many organisations focused by the duo.
AIVD, the Dutch intelligence company, is claimed to have tipped off police concerning the two younger people, which resulted in a raid of the youngsters’ properties by legislation enforcement officers sporting balaclavas.
The daddy of one of many boys instructed NL Occasions that his home was raided with out warning, and proof seized for examination.
Information of the arrests made headline information within the Netherlands, the place Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof claimed that the incident fell right into a sample of assaults by Russia in opposition to Europe. “It is extraordinarily worrying that … these kids are getting used for this,” he instructed journalists.
Schoof is correct. State-backed hackers haven’t any qualms about hiring so-called “disposable brokers” by means of nameless chat providers like Telegram as a result of connections are a lot more durable to hint.
If a gaggle of pro-Russian hackers did recruit youngsters through Telegram to do their dirty-work for them, then it’s as a result of they had been possible easy to recruit, low cost to deploy, and straightforward to desert in the event that they had been caught.
The chance for younger individuals is that whether or not they had been curious, thrill-seeking, or just searching for validation within the on-line hacking neighborhood, that they might face critical penalties if discovered responsible of committing any crimes.
There’s a probability that governments will deal with teenagers recruited through the likes of Telegram to be criminals or victims, or maybe even each.
Though the authorized system is prone to deal with those that are nonetheless minors extra leniently, the implications can nonetheless be life-altering.
In the meantime, the youngsters’s handlers are prone to vanish into ether, and escape any type of justice.
Dutch prosecution service spokesperson Brechtje van de Moosdijk has stated that the investigation is ongoing.
One of many youngsters stays in custody, whereas the opposite has been electronically tagged and put below home arrest. The younger males will face an additional court docket listening to behind closed doorways in two weeks.
