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.
Poised for MoD/Dutch ministry of defence presser in The Hague. Will try to live tweet. #Russia #GRU pic.twitter.com/WMRQmTvrs0
— anna holligan ? (@annaholligan) 4 oktober 2018
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’)
De grootste klap van de MIVD: het bekendmaken van de vier identiteiten van de Russen, inclusief hun paspoorten.
Ze werden van het vliegveld opgehaald door een medewerker van de Russische ambassade in Nederland. pic.twitter.com/jEKAvMSDPY
— Daniël Verlaan (@danielverlaan) 4 oktober 2018
UPDATE – MIVD heeft operatie Russische geheime dienst tegen OPCW verijdeld. Dit zijn de 4 Russen die het land zijn uitgezet https://t.co/1Bh06lrtTo pic.twitter.com/HgCbTUiXqd
— GeenStijl (@geenstijl) 4 oktober 2018
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