Dutch Police Arrest 'Reformed' Hacker In Shiny Hunters Investigation (krebsonsecurity.com) 13
An anonymous reader quotes a report from KrebsOnSecurity: Authorities in the Netherlands have arrested a 24-year-old convicted cybercriminal on suspicion of aiding in data thefts and extortions by the prolific hacker group ShinyHunters. In the days immediately following the suspect's arrest, remaining ShinyHunters members dramatically escalated their attacks, stealing highly sensitive data from the FBI and extorting the Russian ransomware group Cl0p. According to three sources familiar with the matter, the Dutch man arrested by authorities this month is Pepijn van der Stap, a convicted cybercriminal from Almere and Lelystad in the Netherlands. Van der Stap was previously convicted in 2023 in connection with a string of data thefts and extortions that prosecutors said earned between 1.5 million euros and 2.7 million euros.
At his trial in late 2023, van der Stap admitted that he lived a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde existence, secretly using the hacker handle "Umbreon" to extort victims and post their data on English language hacking communities like the now-defunct RaidForums and Breached. By day, however, van der Stap was working as a software engineer at the Amsterdam-based cybersecurity startup Hadrian, while volunteering at the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD), a nonprofit security research group. Van der Stap confessed to his data theft and extortion activity, and was sentenced to four years in prison (one of which was suspended). Van der Stap had publicly presented himself as a "reformed hacker" after serving prison time for data theft and extortion. In a Sept. 9 interview, KrebsOnSecurity said he claimed he was trying "to turn his life around and make a positive contribution to society," while working in offensive security and attempting to make amends to former victims.
At his trial in late 2023, van der Stap admitted that he lived a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde existence, secretly using the hacker handle "Umbreon" to extort victims and post their data on English language hacking communities like the now-defunct RaidForums and Breached. By day, however, van der Stap was working as a software engineer at the Amsterdam-based cybersecurity startup Hadrian, while volunteering at the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD), a nonprofit security research group. Van der Stap confessed to his data theft and extortion activity, and was sentenced to four years in prison (one of which was suspended). Van der Stap had publicly presented himself as a "reformed hacker" after serving prison time for data theft and extortion. In a Sept. 9 interview, KrebsOnSecurity said he claimed he was trying "to turn his life around and make a positive contribution to society," while working in offensive security and attempting to make amends to former victims.
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It's a Pokemon reference. They (allegedly) hunt shiny Pokemon. But similar to foil cards, they serve no purpose other than to provide satisfaction from collecting.
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secretly using the hacker handle "Umbreon"
Even his handle is a Pokemon reference.
If the LLM makers step up their hacking efforts (Score:2)
Guys like these will be out of a job. No surprise they try to attack what the can now.
Extorting the Russians. Good boy. (Score:2)
Stap is still a piece of shit, but extorting a Russian hacking group is a good thing. It should happen more often.
Cultural reference (Score:1)
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Scapegoating does not exclude guilt. People lacking political pull are easily fed to the lions.
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Indeed. Powerful people were offended. Round up the usual suspects and stage a public hanging so we can be seen taking action!
But y'all mised a very interesting comment (Score:2)
How different could the Dutch prison system be than the US? âoeDuring his trial, van der Stap opted to remain in custody for a time rather than at home, saying he could not find better treatment on the outside for his ongoing psychological issues,â
And the US system?
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And the US system?
The same thing could happen in the US system, given how poor access to health care has become. Though of course it's more likely he couldn't get care either way.
Re:But y'all mised a very interesting comment (Score:4, Interesting)
The Dutch justice system has a focus on reformation. Psychiatric care is paar for the course for criminals of all sorts. Simply locking someone up doesn't solve anything, especially if there's a thought that person would be released later.
It's hard to know how well this different approach works because ultimately every country measures recidivism differently. But it seems that the Dutch 3-5 year rearrest rate as well as the reincarceration rate is lower than the comparable rates in the USA. But sadly it doesn't appear that much lower (numbers still over 30%), so the system is still far from perfect.