Forum for Democracy has reported the hacking of the party's computer systems. It says only one hacker was able to carry out this attack. Investigative and intelligence agencies say they are giving "the highest priority" to the case.
So writes Forum for Democracy in a press statement (1)
Last Thursday, party leader Thierry Baudet confirmed that someone had managed to crack the ForumApp. The application was connected to the party's membership administration. Once logged in, it was possible to download the personal data of all 92,901 members. The app did not check whether the person in question had the proper permission to access the membership database.
The leak allowed access to first and last names, home addresses, dates of birth, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, location information and bank account numbers of the entire membership records. It was also possible to see how long someone had been a member of the party and how much dues they had paid. Private data of both current members and former members were accessible as a result.
A spokesman told reporters last week that the leak was immediately plugged as soon as news of it appeared in the media. He also said the party had taken measures to prevent a recurrence. An external agency was investigating the incident. Finally, the incident was reported to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.
We are now several days later and Forum for Democracy provides an update on the state of affairs. The group says that extensive investigations have been conducted and that enough data has been collected to file a police report. A photo of Thierry Baudet at the police station after speaking with the Cybercrime Team was posted on the party's website.
The press release states that not everyone had access to the data in question. "This was only possible due to a deliberate attack by a specialized hacker who intercepted and manipulated the communication between the ForumApp and the FvD database in order to then unlawfully steal data," the party writes.
By its own admission, only one specific hacker was able to carry out this hacking attack. Who that was the party is leaving open. Lawyer Gerard Spong tells RTL News that he has an idea who the perpetrator is. But for the sake of the investigation he does not want to say anything about it. "It is up to the police and the Openbaar Ministerie to find out," Spong said.
"We deeply regret that this could have happened and have taken extra security measures to prevent this from happening again in the future. We will share further information on this in due course, but given the current state of the (criminal) investigation we are exercising discretion for the time being," Forum for Democracy reports.
The party says it is in close contact with the investigation and intelligence services, which are giving "the highest priority" to the case. "We therefore assume that the perpetrator(s) of the crimes committed against us (and our members) will soon be brought to justice," Forum for Democracy ends its press release.
ForumApp had been launched at the party congress the weekend prior to the data breach. With the app, the party wants to offer its members the opportunity to build a network inside and outside the party. In the future, the app will have additional features, such as a chat function and the ability to date other FvD members.
https://fvd.nl/nieuws/fvd-doet-aangifte-wegens-hacking
