14 DAY TRIAL // A 17-year-old boy was arrested in Barendrecht by the Dutch High Tech Crime Team. He’s suspected of being the one responsible for hacking into the systems of KPN at the beginning of 2012.
According to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie), the suspect was arrested at his home, an encrypted desktop computer, two laptops and numerous external data storage drives being seized by the investigators.
Authorities determined that KPN’s computer systems were damaged after the hacker managed to bypass the security measures and place malicious software on the company’s servers.
The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) informed that the incident did not pose a threat to national security, but the Internet service provider (ISP) was forced to clean up and reinstall a large number of systems. Furthermore, the company even had to temporarily suspend its email services.
For the time being only a limited amount of information has been made public because the investigation is ongoing, but as it turns out, the same hacker is suspected of breaching websites belonging to the Tokohu University in Japan, the University of Trondheim in Norway and the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
It has also been revealed that the teenage suspect used online monikers such as xS, Yoshioka and Yui. During the investigation, Dutch authorities collaborated closely with the Cyber Terror Response Center of the Korean National Police and the Australian Federal Police.
A 16-year-old Australian hacker who was in contact with the suspect was also arrested last week.
A court from Rotterdam dictated that the suspect will remain in custody for a period of two weeks, during which he will be assisted by a lawyer and receive visits from representatives of the Council for the Protection of the Child (Raad voor de Kinderbescherming).
Note. My Twitter account has been erroneously suspended. While this is sorted out, you can contact me via my author profile.