‘We notice that, besides citizens and businesses, governments are increasingly targeted by digital attacks from state actors, cybercriminals, and other malicious parties,’ says Stan Duijf, responsible for tackling cybercrime at the police. ‘At the same time, we see that cybercrime is becoming easier for criminals due to AI and service models, which is concerning.’ The police are therefore strongly committed to combating cybercrime through international operations such as Endgame. Duijf: ‘We have taken multiple malware offline worldwide and directly confronted perpetrators.’
Exploitation of widely used software
Duijf also points to the risk that cybercriminals and state actors exploit known vulnerabilities in widely used software to gain access to systems, such as recently Citrix and Microsoft. ‘Many Dutch organizations use products from these suppliers. It is important to monitor announcements and install updates as quickly as possible. This prevents a lot of damage.’
Need for international legislation
The police want to warn citizens and businesses – preferably worldwide – if they are targeted by a certain cyberattack or if their data has been stolen, Duijf indicates. ‘In the Netherlands, people can regularly check via our website if they have been hacked. But internationally, the police cannot always share this data with (potential) victims due to legislation. We therefore hope that laws and regulations will be adjusted so that we can also warn victims abroad.’
