Amsterdam man arrested over links to ShinyHunters hacking group

An Amsterdam man, aged 24, has been arrested by Dutch police on suspicion of ties to the ShinyHunters hacking group, which has carried out several significant cyberattacks on Dutch companies within the past year. The suspect, identified as Pepijn van der S., is set to face court in Rotterdam on Wednesday.

According to sources quoted by broadcaster NOS, van der S. previously served a four-year prison sentence in 2023 for charges including extortion, money laundering, and hacking. He was released from prison this year. Reports indicate that van der S. has a legitimate background in cybersecurity, having worked for an Amsterdam-based firm called Hadrian. His professional activities also included ethical hacking research with the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure.

However, the court found in 2023 that van der S. had been leaking data stolen from clients and other companies. This led to the arrest and conviction of the man. ShinyHunters was responsible for a recent attack on the Dutch telecoms provider Odido, in which millions of customers' personal data was stolen. After the company declined to pay a ransom, the group released much of the data on the dark web.

ShinyHunters was also behind an attack on Canvas, an online learning platform utilized by students, leading to the company paying a ransom to avoid further disruption. In a recent development, ShinyHunters claimed to have obtained the details of thousands of FBI employees, although an FBI investigation is currently ongoing.