Dutch thwart Russian cyber attack on chemical weapons watchdog OPCW
Dutch intelligence thwarted a Russian cyber attack targeting the global chemical weapons watchdog in April and expelled four Russian agents, the Netherlands government said today.
The Russians set up a car full of electronic equipment in the car park of a hotel next to Organization for the Prohibition for Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague to hack its computer system, it said.
Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency carried out cyber attack: Netherlands .
“The Dutch Government finds the involvement of these intelligence operatives extremely worrisome,” Dutch Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld said.
“Normally we don’t reveal this type of counter-intelligence operation,” she added.
The Netherlands, however, publicly identified the alleged Russian agents and said the operation was carried out by Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, Dutch officials said.
Britain helped the Netherlands with the operation, they added.
Seized laptop linked to Brazil, Switzerland, and Malaysia: Bijleveld
A laptop belonging to one of the four Russian agents was linked to Brazil, Switzerland, and Malaysia. The activities in Malaysia were related to the investigation into the 2014 shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine, Bijleveld said.