Man arrested for demanding reward after accidental police data leak

Source: Bleeping Computer

Incident overview

Dutch authorities arrested a 40‑year‑old man after he downloaded confidential documents that had been mistakenly shared by the police and refused to delete them unless he received “something in return.”

The suspect was detained at his Prinses Beatrixstraat residence in Ridderkerk on Thursday evening on suspicion of computer hacking. Police searched his home and seized data‑storage devices to recover the files.

How the leak occurred

• February 12 – The man contacted the police, claiming to have images that might be relevant to an ongoing investigation.
• An officer responded, but instead of sending an upload link, mistakenly provided a download link to confidential police documents.
• The man downloaded the files despite the obvious error. When police instructed him to stop downloading and delete the materials, he allegedly refused unless he was given “something in return.”

The incident was first reported by DataBreaches.Net.

Police response

In a Monday press release, Dutch police stated that knowingly downloading files from a link clearly intended for uploading constitutes potential computer trespass under Dutch law, especially when the recipient has been instructed not to access the materials.

“If you receive a download link, while you know that you should get an upload link, it is clearly said that it is not downloaded and chooses to download the files anyway, then you may be guilty of computer trespassing,” the police said.
Source

“The recipient can reasonably assume that the download link and the files that are shared with it are not intended for him.”

Legal implications

Authorities emphasized that recipients of misdirected confidential materials have a legal obligation to:

1. Report the error promptly.
2. Refrain from accessing or retaining documents not intended for them, regardless of how the materials were received.

Current status of the investigation

• The Dutch police reported the data breach and launched an investigation, though they have not found evidence that the confidential documents were distributed beyond the suspect’s possession.
• “The police have no indication that the files were distributed further. They are following protocol for data breaches. The police are continuing their investigation,” the authorities added.