Dutch police said Tuesday they arrested a 24-year-old man from Amsterdam on Sept. 15 who is suspected of playing a role in the hacker group ShinyHunters and is also suspected of attempted solicitation of two murders. Authorities said the suspicion of trying to arrange two murders was linked to information found on the suspect’s laptop but “is not related to the investigation into ShinyHunters.” A court in Rotterdam on Tuesday ordered the suspect held for a further 90 days.
Dutch detectives seized data storage devices during their probe, are investigating their contents and said they did not rule out more arrests. “Arresting cybercrime suspects is a key intervention in our broad-based fight against this type of crime,” said Stan Duijf, the Dutch police official responsible for tackling cybercrime. “The ShinyHunters group is responsible for a large number of victims, both in the Netherlands and abroad. It is gratifying that we have been able to arrest a suspect in the investigation into this group.”
ShinyHunters claim and FBI response
Last week ShinyHunters claimed to have breached the FBI’s jobs website, saying it had stolen “very sensitive data” belonging to thousands of agents and applicants and that it had compromised the bureau’s jobs website. The FBI said last Wednesday it was “actively and aggressively investigating” a claimed hack of the FBIJobs.gov portal after a message circulated online from ShinyHunters claiming responsibility.
FBI Director Kash Patel highlighted the Netherlands arrest on X, saying: “This morning @FBI and our partners the Dutch National Police are announcing the arrest of one of the alleged leaders of ShinyHunters – a global cybercrime and threat actor group linked to cyberattacks in the United States, the Netherlands, and around the world.” He added: “In coordination with FBI investigators the Dutch High-Tech Crime Unit arrested the suspect under Dutch law. As we speak FBI teams are actively working with partners to obtain and execute more leads in the ongoing investigation based on this arrest.” The Dutch police statement announcing the arrest did not mention the FBI hack or coordination with American law enforcement.
A ShinyHunters message circulating online said in part: “We have compromised the FBI. We hold very sensitive data on almost ALL FBI Agents and individuals who filed an application with the FBI for a job,” directed to Patel and Brett Leatherman, the assistant director in charge of the bureau’s cyber division. The claims could not immediately be verified. In its message, ShinyHunters said it would give the bureau one week to correct or remove what it said were false allegations contained in an FBI public advisory from May that described the organization as a “cyber criminal group specializing in large-scale data breaches and extortion.”
