Organizations across the Netherlands, particularly those in critical infrastructure sectors, have been subjected to mounting Russian and Chinese state-backed cyberattacks, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Increasingly prevalent state-sponsored intrusions have been partly fueled by escalating activities from both countries' non-state attackers, with Russia commonly tapping hacktivist groups and China partnering with universities and businesses in its malicious cyber operations, a report from the Netherlands' National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism, or NCTV, showed. Moreover, Chinese state-backed groups have also exhibited greater sophistication in their attacks during the past 12 months. "China's capabilities in this area are growing rapidly and could potentially be deployed worldwide in a relatively short time. This makes the Chinese cyber sabotage program a potential threat to countries like the Netherlands in the coming years," said the report. Such findings come weeks after the Dutch national police linked a recent breach of its systems to an unnamed state actor.
