Two 17-year-old boys have been arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of “state interference,” a case that prosecutors suggest has connections to Russian espionage. According to Dutch media reports, the teenagers were allegedly contacted by pro-Russian hackers via the messaging app Telegram.
One of the suspects is believed to have carried a device known as a “wi-fi sniffer” – used for identifying and intercepting Wi-Fi networks – past the offices of Europol, Eurojust, and the Canadian embassy in The Hague. Both teenagers appeared before a judge on Thursday. One has been detained, while the other has been placed under strict bail conditions at home, pending a court hearing in the next two weeks.
The father of one of the arrested youths told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that his son was apprehended while doing homework, with police reportedly citing espionage and providing services to a foreign country as the reasons for the arrest. The paper described the teenager as being skilled with computers and having an interest in hacking, alongside holding a part-time job at a supermarket.