Dutch police arrest alleged ShinyHunters leader, uncover plans for two murders
Dutch authorities, working with the FBI, have arrested a suspected leader of the ShinyHunters hacking group, whose laptop reportedly contained information about two planned murders abroad.
Dutch police and the FBI have announced the arrest of a man believed to be one of the leaders of ShinyHunters, a hacking group accused of breaching more than 140 organizations worldwide, including a recent intrusion into the FBI's own systems.
Brett Leathermann, head of the FBI's cyber division, confirmed in a video statement on Tuesday that Dutch authorities had detained one of the group's alleged leaders. He praised the Dutch High Tech Crime Unit for acting quickly to protect victims and preserve evidence, and said the FBI would continue pursuing the group's remaining members.
In a separate statement, Dutch police confirmed that an unnamed 24-year-old man from Amsterdam was arrested on September 15 on suspicion of participating in a criminal organization. He appeared in court on Tuesday and has been remanded into custody for at least 90 days.
After seizing his devices, police said they found extensive information on his laptop, including details about two murders planned to be carried out abroad. He is now also being investigated over an alleged attempt to orchestrate those killings — a probe authorities described as separate from the ShinyHunters case.
ShinyHunters has been linked to data breaches at companies including Pornhub, Ticketmaster and U.S. telecom giant AT&T, and claimed responsibility for hacking Dutch telecom provider Odido, though the arrested man was not held in connection with the Odido breach.
Media outlets, citing security journalist Brian Krebs, identified the suspect as Pepijn van der Stap, who works as chief technology officer at Neo Security. A ShinyHunters representative told reporters van der Stap has no association with the group.
The arrest was announced days after reports emerged that FBI personnel data — including Social Security numbers and medical records — had been exposed. ShinyHunters said the breach was not financially motivated but intended as a protest against what it called false public claims by the FBI, and said it would not publish the stolen data.
