Data breach at Dutch Ministry of Finance impacts staff following cyberattack

The Dutch Ministry of Finance disclosed a cyberattack that was detected on 19 March 2026, after a third‑party alert, with attackers breaching some internal systems and impacting a portion of its employees. According to Dutch Ministry of Finance, unauthorized access to systems for a number of primary processes within the policy department was detected on that Thursday, and an immediate investigation was launched, with access to these systems blocked as of today.

The ministry stressed that services for citizens and businesses, including tax, customs and benefits, have not been affected. No cybercrime group has claimed responsibility for the incident, and the ministry did not publish technical details about the attack. The report also notes a previous incident in October 2024 when police blamed a state actor for a breach exposing officers’ contact details, with security breaches reported to the Data Protection Authority.