Russia-backed group hacked into networks of police and NATO, say Dutch authorities
FILE PHOTO: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -A previously unknown Russian hacking group was behind attacks last year on the networks of the Dutch police, NATO and several European countries, Dutch intelligence agencies said on Tuesday.
The group, nicknamed Laundry Bear by the security agencies, was most likely supported by the Russian state, the Dutch General Intelligence Agency and Military Agency said in a joint letter to parliament.
"The cyberattacks against Dutch institutions are part of a larger international cyber threat posed by the hacker group," they said in a statement detailing the findings of their probe into the incidents.
The group operated under the radar until it was discovered conducting a hacking operation in September 2024 in which it successfully gained access to the confidential details of Dutch police officials, it said.
Laundry Bear also conducted cyber-espionage against companies that produce high-end technologies that Russia has difficulty accessing due to Western sanctions over the Ukraine war, it said.
"The investigation also reveals that Laundry Bear has been responsible for cyber operations against Western governments and other institutions since at least 2024," the statement added.
It said the group had sought to get hold of information related to "the procurement and production of military equipment by Western governments and Western arms deliveries to Ukraine".
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch;Editing by Helen Popper)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Russia, Ukraine trade drone barrages ahead of talks
KYIV: Russia and Ukraine launched large-scale drone barrages overnight, Kyiv and Moscow said Monday, hours before negotiators from the two sides were to start a second round of direct talks in Turkey. The Russian defence ministry said its air defence units had 'intercepted and destroyed' 162 Ukrainian drones. The majority were downed over regions bordering Ukraine, with 57 intercepted over the Kursk region and 31 over the Belgorod region, it said. The barrage came hours before Ukrainian and Russian delegations were to sit down for talks in Istanbul, only the second round of direct talks since the weeks after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. It also came a day after Ukraine said it carried out one of its most brazen and successful attacks on Russian soil, hitting dozens of strategic bombers parked at airbases deep inside Russia, thousands of kilometres behind the front line. Ukraine said Russia had attacked its territory with 80 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as four missiles. It added that the projectiles managed to strike 12 targets. Local officials released images showing damaged residential buildings in the eastern city of Kharkiv. Separately, officials in the southern region of Kherson said a 40-year-old man was killed in the frontline territory by Russian artillery.
The Sun
6 hours ago
- The Sun
French police detain dozens after football celebrations
FRENCH authorities detained 79 people in the second such wave of arrests during celebrations following Paris Saint-Germain's football Champions League win, a police chief said Monday. The PSG thrashed Inter Milan by a record 5-0 in Saturday evening's final in Munich, flying back to Paris on Sunday for a triumphal parade along the Champs Elysees, then celebrations in a packed Parc des Princes stadium on the edge of the French capital. The PSG winning the biggest prize in European club football for the first time sparked delirious festivities in France, but was marred by violence. On Sunday, 'we saw a resurgence of individuals driven by malicious intent who were not really PSG supporters,' Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told RTL radio. 'We arrested 79 people, some of them in the night,' he said, adding that order had been restored before dawn. Some were detained over taking barriers and briefly blocking the ring road around Paris, while others had tried to vandalise businesses or fired fireworks on the Champs Elysees, he said. On Saturday night, police had made more than 500 arrests across France, the interior ministry said, after more than 200 cars were torched and police clashed with youths. In the southwest town of Dax, a 17-year-old boy died after being stabbed in the chest. A 23-year-old man riding a scooter in central Paris also died after being hit by a vehicle. A policeman was in an induced coma after being injured by a firework. Receiving the triumphant team at the Elysee palace on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned what he called 'unacceptable' violence during the festivities. Many of the stars of the team, one of the youngest in the competition, are drawn from the huge football talent pool in the Paris suburbs after PSG's Qatari owners turned their back on the policy of signing star players like Neymar and Lionel Messi. A total of 11.5 million people tuned in across France to watch the match.
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Australian woman accused of triple mushroom murders gives evidence
SYDNEY (Reuters) -An Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband's elderly relatives by serving them a lunch laced with poisonous mushrooms began giving evidence during her trial on Monday, in a case that has gripped the nation. Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with the July 2023 murders of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband, in a case that has gripped Australia. All four fell ill after a lunch of Beef Wellington, mashed potatoes and green beans, the court has heard. Prosecutors allege the accused laced the meal with highly poisonous death cap mushrooms at her home in Leongatha, a town of around 6,000 people some 135 km (84 miles) from Melbourne. Erin Patterson denies the charges, with her defence saying the deaths were a "terrible accident". Beginning her evidence towards the end of the day's session, Erin Patterson said on Monday her relationship with estranged husband Simon Patterson had been in difficulty shortly after they married in 2007. "We could never communicate in a way that would make each of us feel heard and understood," she told the court. She had also grown apart from Simon's parents, Donald and Gail, at the time of their deaths, she added. "I had felt for some months that my relationship with the wider Patterson family, particularly Don and Gail, had a bit more distance or space put between us," she said. Earlier on Monday the prosecution rested its case, following a month of evidence from witnesses, including relatives and medical, forensic and mushroom experts. Simon Patterson gave evidence earlier in the trial, characterising the relationship between him and the accused as strained at the time of the alleged murders. The trial, that began on April 29, has seen intense interest from Australian and international media, with podcasters, journalists and documentary-makers descending on the town of Morwell, around two hours east of Melbourne, where the trial is being held. Erin Patterson is expected to resume her evidence on Tuesday, when the trial continues. (Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)
