Headlines January
Letters with explosives sent to multiple companies
Bomb letters were found last week at various companies in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. In no case were the explosives fired, but according to the police they could have caused serious physical injury.
The police assume that this is a single sender. There may be extortion. "That is a plausible scenario," says a spokesperson. "But we also do not exclude other options." The bomb letters were delivered at various times during the past week to a hotel and a gas station in Amsterdam, a real estate agency in Utrecht and a gas station and car company in Rotterdam.
The letters state that they come from the Central Collection Office in Rotterdam, but according to the police that collection agency has nothing to do with it.
It is still unclear what the relationship is between the companies. "We are, of course, investigating that," says the police spokesperson. "It's too early to say anything about that." A sixth suspicious letter was found today at the CIB headquarters, the so-called sender. It is being investigated whether there were also explosives in it.
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The Rotterdam car company that was hit is Mercedes-dealer Van Mossel. According to director Jan-Bas Veltman, the telephone operator opened the letter today around noon and saw "something that looked like a battery". She then called the police. The recipients also called 112 in the other five cases. The police suspect that there are more letters in circulation, how much can the spokesperson say. Specialists from the Dutch Forensic Institute are investigating the explosives found, in collaboration with people from the Defense Explosive Service.
The police warns people and organizations that receive a letter that is supposed to be from the CIB and that has a thickening to be alert. If the CIB logo is not printed on the envelope itself but is on a sticker, people should not open the envelope. Director Niels de Peuter of the CIB says in a reaction that he is enormously shocked. "This is of course terrible for all involved." De Peuter is unable to comment further on the case in connection with the police investigation. He does say that he has taken measures for employees and customers after his discovery today at his own company.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2317111-brieven-met-explosieven-gestuurd-naar-meerdere-bedrijven.html
No WiFi: school sends all pupils home
The Topsport Talent School Groningen (TTS) on Melisseweg in Stad has sent all its students home on Wednesday.
The school has had problems with the Wi-Fi connection since the beginning of this week. Wednesday the WiFi completely went out. "Unfortunately, since we work digitally, giving and following education has become impossible," the school writes to parents in an internal mail.
Cause known
According to team leader Erica Mansholt, the cause of the problem has been found. "The network will be restored during the day."
Classes are expected to resume on Thursday. The TTS is part of the HN Werkman College. The school offers suitable education to students who want to combine top sport with secondary education.
Source: https://www.rtvnoord.nl/nieuws/217512/Geen-wifi-school-in-Stad-stuurt-alle-leerlingen-naar-huis
Schiphol, House of Representatives and Amsterdam and Rotterdam shut down Citrix servers
Employees of Schiphol Airport, the House of Representatives, educational institutions and municipalities throughout the Netherlands, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam, can no longer work from home. On the advice of the National Cyber Security Center of the Ministry of Justice and Security, they have switched off the Citrix home work system. MPs have been told that this will take until January 27. Previously taken safety measures did not always work. "The NCSC emphasizes that there is currently no good, guaranteed reliable solution for all versions of Citrix ADC and Citrix Gateway servers," writes the center. Last month it appeared that there was a security breach and that hackers could use it to enter and infect corporate networks.
A safety measure was then issued for that, but it appears that it does not work properly. Hackers may be able to obtain personally sensitive information through the vulnerability. New measures ("patches") are expected at the end of this month.
Omroep Brabant reports that hackers have tried to penetrate the computer system of Amphia Hospital in Breda via the Citrix leak.
Earlier this week hacking attempts were made at similar systems at the Leeuwarden Medical Center and the municipality of Zutphen. The Zaans MC in Zaandam also confirms that a hacking attempt has been made and that the system was shut down the day before yesterday.
The Association of Dutch Municipalities says that around 200 of the 355 municipalities work with Citrix. Many companies also use the technology. It involved 700 servers in the country , security expert Ralph Moonen said in Nieuwsuur .
More than a hundred healthcare institutions use the Citrix software, says Z-Cert, the expertise center for IT security in healthcare. The Dutch Hospitals Association says the warning has arrived.
Objections and birth registration
By shutting down the Citrix servers, people can no longer log into the municipal network at a number of external locations. It is not clear how many civil servants in Amsterdam and Rotterdam can now work from an external location. Work can continue at the municipal offices. The Frisian municipalities of Achtkarspelen and Tietjerksteradeel have also switched off their Citrix server. On Monday, an update is planned in Achtkarspelen and Tietjerksteradeel, which should resolve the vulnerabilities in the server, writes Omrop Fryslân . People cannot work from home until that time.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2318974-amsterdam-rotterdam-en-andere-gemeenten-schakelen-citrix-servers-uit.html
Bomb letters were found last week at various companies in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. In no case were the explosives fired, but according to the police they could have caused serious physical injury.
The police assume that this is a single sender. There may be extortion. "That is a plausible scenario," says a spokesperson. "But we also do not exclude other options." The bomb letters were delivered at various times during the past week to a hotel and a gas station in Amsterdam, a real estate agency in Utrecht and a gas station and car company in Rotterdam.
The letters state that they come from the Central Collection Office in Rotterdam, but according to the police that collection agency has nothing to do with it.
It is still unclear what the relationship is between the companies. "We are, of course, investigating that," says the police spokesperson. "It's too early to say anything about that." A sixth suspicious letter was found today at the CIB headquarters, the so-called sender. It is being investigated whether there were also explosives in it.
112
The Rotterdam car company that was hit is Mercedes-dealer Van Mossel. According to director Jan-Bas Veltman, the telephone operator opened the letter today around noon and saw "something that looked like a battery". She then called the police. The recipients also called 112 in the other five cases. The police suspect that there are more letters in circulation, how much can the spokesperson say. Specialists from the Dutch Forensic Institute are investigating the explosives found, in collaboration with people from the Defense Explosive Service.
The police warns people and organizations that receive a letter that is supposed to be from the CIB and that has a thickening to be alert. If the CIB logo is not printed on the envelope itself but is on a sticker, people should not open the envelope. Director Niels de Peuter of the CIB says in a reaction that he is enormously shocked. "This is of course terrible for all involved." De Peuter is unable to comment further on the case in connection with the police investigation. He does say that he has taken measures for employees and customers after his discovery today at his own company.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2317111-brieven-met-explosieven-gestuurd-naar-meerdere-bedrijven.html
No WiFi: school sends all pupils home
The Topsport Talent School Groningen (TTS) on Melisseweg in Stad has sent all its students home on Wednesday.
The school has had problems with the Wi-Fi connection since the beginning of this week. Wednesday the WiFi completely went out. "Unfortunately, since we work digitally, giving and following education has become impossible," the school writes to parents in an internal mail.
Cause known
According to team leader Erica Mansholt, the cause of the problem has been found. "The network will be restored during the day."
Classes are expected to resume on Thursday. The TTS is part of the HN Werkman College. The school offers suitable education to students who want to combine top sport with secondary education.
Source: https://www.rtvnoord.nl/nieuws/217512/Geen-wifi-school-in-Stad-stuurt-alle-leerlingen-naar-huis
Schiphol, House of Representatives and Amsterdam and Rotterdam shut down Citrix servers
Employees of Schiphol Airport, the House of Representatives, educational institutions and municipalities throughout the Netherlands, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam, can no longer work from home. On the advice of the National Cyber Security Center of the Ministry of Justice and Security, they have switched off the Citrix home work system. MPs have been told that this will take until January 27. Previously taken safety measures did not always work. "The NCSC emphasizes that there is currently no good, guaranteed reliable solution for all versions of Citrix ADC and Citrix Gateway servers," writes the center. Last month it appeared that there was a security breach and that hackers could use it to enter and infect corporate networks.
A safety measure was then issued for that, but it appears that it does not work properly. Hackers may be able to obtain personally sensitive information through the vulnerability. New measures ("patches") are expected at the end of this month.
Omroep Brabant reports that hackers have tried to penetrate the computer system of Amphia Hospital in Breda via the Citrix leak.
Earlier this week hacking attempts were made at similar systems at the Leeuwarden Medical Center and the municipality of Zutphen. The Zaans MC in Zaandam also confirms that a hacking attempt has been made and that the system was shut down the day before yesterday.
The Association of Dutch Municipalities says that around 200 of the 355 municipalities work with Citrix. Many companies also use the technology. It involved 700 servers in the country , security expert Ralph Moonen said in Nieuwsuur .
More than a hundred healthcare institutions use the Citrix software, says Z-Cert, the expertise center for IT security in healthcare. The Dutch Hospitals Association says the warning has arrived.
Objections and birth registration
By shutting down the Citrix servers, people can no longer log into the municipal network at a number of external locations. It is not clear how many civil servants in Amsterdam and Rotterdam can now work from an external location. Work can continue at the municipal offices. The Frisian municipalities of Achtkarspelen and Tietjerksteradeel have also switched off their Citrix server. On Monday, an update is planned in Achtkarspelen and Tietjerksteradeel, which should resolve the vulnerabilities in the server, writes Omrop Fryslân . People cannot work from home until that time.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2318974-amsterdam-rotterdam-en-andere-gemeenten-schakelen-citrix-servers-uit.html
Translated from Dutch to English with Google translate