The Netherlands Police has arrested on September 15th Amsterdam a 24 year old mansuspected of having a role within ShinyHuntersa criminal group specializing in cyber attacks, data theft and extortion. The operation was conducted as part of an investigation by Eenheid Landelijke Opsporing en Interventieswith the High Tech Crime Team in charge of investigating ShinyHunters under the supervision of the Landelijk Parket.
The group has been associated with several high-profile attacks, including those against Ticketmaster, Rockstar Games, Odido and Pornhub. ShinyHunters also more recently claimed an intrusion into FBI systems, claiming to have stolen data relating to the US agency’s employees.
The Dutch authorities and the FBI have not officially disclosed the identity of the arrested person. Second Krebs on Security and Reutershowever, it would be about Pepijn van der Stapa Dutch citizen already convicted in 2023 for data theft and extortion. After his release from prison last year, the man joined the Dutch cybersecurity company Neo Security. ShinyHunters, interviewed by Reuters, denied any relationship with Van der Stapstating that the 24-year-old has “no association” with the group.
The FBI instead considers the suspect one of the possible leaders of the organization. Brett Leatherman, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, issued a warning to other members of ShinyHunters: “The longer you continue, the more we will discover about you. You know how to find us and we know how to find you”. Leatherman then added: “I suggest you come forward first, while the choice is still yours”.
The arrest led to the seizure of different computing devicesincluding the suspect’s laptop. According to the Dutch police, a significant amount of information. The investigators would also have identified elements relating to the planning of two murders that should have been committed abroad.
This second complaint is separate from the ShinyHunters investigation. The police suspect that the man attempted to incite other people to commit the two murders. The 24-year-old is therefore under investigation both for participation in a criminal organization and for the alleged attempted incitement to two murders.
The Dutch authorities also do not rule out new arrests based on the information recovered from the seized devices.
On the U.S. front, FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency’s teams are working with international partners to develop and execute additional investigative efforts since the arrest.
The Rotterdam court ultimately ruled that the suspect will remain in prison preventive detention for at least another 90 days. The investigation therefore remains ongoing.
