Big Russian cyber attack against the OPCW in The Hague foiled – 4 Russians expelled

On the 13th of April, the Dutch military intelligence service MIVD prevented a hacking attack by the Russian secret service at the OPCW, the chemical weapons watchdog organization in The Hague. The Russians would have tried to hack the OPCW’s Wi-Fi network.

Four Russian officers who were involved were deported the same day. They had to leave their stuff. The laptop of one of the Russian officers has connected with different countries, including Malaysia. The Russians attempted to gain insight into the international investigation into the MH17 disaster.

Minister Bijleveld of Defense is proud of the work of the security service. She calls on the Russians to stop their secret cyber operations. The director of the MIVD said it is highly unusual for his department to publish such news.

Big press conference in The Hague on the Russian cyber attack at the OPCW

At a press conference in The Hague, the names and functions of the four Russian intelligence officers who were involved in the attack were announced.

Here’s the pressconference by the MIVD:

And here are the names:

Aleksei Sergeyvich Morenets – ‘cyber operator’

Evgenii Mikhaylovich Serebriakov (also ‘cyberoperator’)

Oleg Mijailovich Sotnikov (human intelligence support)

Alexey Valeryvich Minin (also ‘human intelligence support’)

 

The British were also under Russian cyber attack

This morning, the British government also reported that the Russian secret service is behind a series of global cyber attacks designed to undermine Western democracies.

“They are trying to undermine and influence elections in other countries,” Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said in an explanation. “Together with our allies we will come up with an answer to these attempts by the secret service GROe to undermine international stability.”

 

Not the first time the Dutch foil a Russian cyber attack

The Dutch intelligence services were also playing a key part when it came to foiling another Russian cyber plot. It became known that they played an important role in the current FBI investigation into Russian influence on the American elections.

The intelligence services AIVD and the MIVD provided the Americans with crucial information that they had intercepted with the Russian hack group ‘Cozy Bear’, according to joint research by Nieuwsuur and de Volkskrant.

Featured picture: NOS-Youtube still

Abuzer van Leeuwen 🇳🇱
Abuzer van Leeuwen 🇳🇱http://www.abuzervanleeuwen.nl
Abuzer founded DutchReview a decade ago because he thought expats needed it and wanted to make amends for the Dutch cuisine. He has a Masters in Political Science and IT but somewhere always wanted to study history or good old football. He also a mortgage in the Netherlands and will happily tell you too how to get one. Born and raised in Rotterdam, Abuzer now lives in Leiden but is always longing back to his own international year in Italy.

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