Dutch Port Hacker Sentenced to Prison

A Dutch national has been sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiring to deploy remote access malware on a logistics firm’s systems to access port infrastructure in the Netherlands and Belgium, the SecurityWeek report states. The 44-year-old, who was not named, was arrested after authorities intercepted communications on the end-to-end encrypted Sky ECC network, which was shut down by law enforcement in 2021.

According to evidence presented in court, the malware was deployed via a USB stick with the help of an employee of the hacked port logistics company, enabling the attackers to steal data and intercept data in transit. The intrusions occurred between September 2020 and April 2021 and affected the ports of Rotterdam, Barendrecht, and Antwerp, with the operation allegedly facilitating the smuggling of 210 kilograms of cocaine into the Netherlands hidden on a wine-carrying ship. The defendant, who has a prior record of computer-related crimes, had been arrested in 2021, convicted in 2022, and appealing the sentence.