Dutch ‘reformed hacker’ arrested in ShinyHunters investigation, police and boss say

A Dutch man, whose past as a cybercriminal was previously reported in international media, has been arrested in connection with an investigation into the hacker group ShinyHunters, Dutch police and his former employer announced on Monday. The man, identified as 24-year-old Pepijn van der Stap, is set to appear in Rotterdam court on Tuesday.

Van der Stap, who holds the position of offensive security lead at Amsterdam-based cybersecurity firm Neo Security, was arrested by Dutch forensic investigators on September 15, the same day he was apprehended in a police raid. His former employer, Benjamin Korper, revealed that his office had been visited by the investigators on that day.

Korper stated that he had thoroughly vetted van der Stap before hiring him and was surprised by the arrest. He expressed shock among his colleagues over the news. Korper's company had hired an external firm to investigate whether van der Stap had engaged in hacking activities against his employer or its clients; however, no evidence of wrongdoing has been found so far.

The arrest of van der Stap was first reported by independent journalist Brian Krebs. ShinyHunters is a hacking group notorious for large-scale data thefts and extortion, most recently for the alleged hack of the FBI, where they claimed to have stolen sensitive information about current and former FBI employees.