In 2008, a Dutchman played a crucial role in the United States and Israeli-led operation to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program. The then 36-year-old Erik van Sabben infiltrated an Iranian nuclear complex and released the infamous Stuxnet virus, paralyzing the country’s nuclear program. The AIVD recruited the man, but Dutch politicians knew nothing about the operation, the Volkskrant reports after investigating the sabotage for two years.
The Dutch football association KNVB paid the ransom demanded by cyber criminals in a ransomware attack in April. The hackers stole Dutch and other football players’ passports, ID cards, home addresses, and salary slips and threatened to publish the data if the football association didn’t pay the ransom, the KNVB said on Tuesday.