Dutch agency thwarts Russian cyber attack on chemical weapons watchdog

This handout document released by the Dutch Defence Ministry shows four men arriving from Moscow at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on April 10, as the Netherlands expelled four Russian agents. Pic/AFP

Dutch intelligence thwarted a Russian cyber attack targeting the global chemical weapons watchdog in April and expelled four Russian agents, the government said Thursday.

The Russians set up a car full of electronic equipment in the car park of a hotel next to the Organisation for the Prohibition for Chemical Weapons in The Hague in a bid to hack its computer system, it said. "The Dutch government finds the involvement of these intelligence operatives extremely worrisome," said Dutch Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld.

The Netherlands publicly identified the alleged Russian agents and said the operation was carried out by Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, Dutch officials said. Britain helped the Netherlands with the operation.

A laptop belonging to one of the four was linked to Brazil, Switzerland and Malaysia. The activities in Malaysia were related to the investigation into the 2014 shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine, Bijleveld added.

Detention of Russian extended
A Norwegian court on Thursday remanded a Russian citizen accused of spying for two more weeks. The man, identified as Mikhail Bochkarevs, is suspected of collecting information in the parliament.

'Halt reckless behaviour'
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday warned Russia to halt its "reckless" behaviour. Stoltenberg said, "Russia must stop its reckless pattern of behaviour, including the use of force against its neighbours."

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever