Facepalm: Police in the Netherlands have arrested a man on charges of computer hacking after authorities accidentally sent him confidential files – which he refused to delete unless he received something in exchange. The moral here is that it's probably not a good idea to blackmail authorities, even if it's a situation of their own making.
The farcical story began on February 12, when a 40-year-old man from Ridderkerk contacted the police in relation to a separate investigation.
He told the officer that he might have images relevant to the case, so he was sent a link for uploading the files.
Unfortunately, instead of sending an upload link, the officer sent him a link for downloading confidential police documents.
It's at this point where the man reportedly though it would be a good idea to exploit the situation. According to Politie, he downloaded the files despite their sharing being an obvious mistake.
It's then claimed that when police told him to stop and delete the material he'd already downloaded, the man said he would only comply if he "received something in return." It's not specified what that something might have been, though money seems like the obvious request.
Seemingly mistaking the Dutch police force for an online victim willing to hand over some Bitcoin, the man's home was raided by authorities and his devices were seized to recover the documents and prevent them from being shared any further.
In a statement regarding the case, the police emphasized that anyone who receives a download link knowing they should be receiving an upload link, and downloads files despite being told not to, may be guilty of computer trespassing.
Authorities reported the data breach and launched an investigation, though it appears the man did not share the documents with anyone else after he downloaded them.
Just how sensitive these exposed documents were or whether they included personal information of people linked to ongoing cases was not revealed.
Being charged with computing hacking when someone hasn't actually hacked anything does seem odd, but what happened in this instance falls under "computervredebreuk," which is essentially gaining unauthorized access to computer systems.
Dutch police arrest man on hacking charges after sending him confidential files by mistake
