The Port Hack: 7-Year Sentence for Smuggler Who Targeted Rotterdam & Antwerp

The Amsterdam Court of Appeal has sentenced a 44-year-old Dutch national to seven years of imprisonment for a series of transgressions involving sophisticated cyber offensives and narcotics trafficking. The convictions pertain to the infiltration of server infrastructures within the preeminent ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, alongside instances of attempted extortion.

The judicial proceedings originated in 2021 following the suspect’s apprehension. Although a lower court delivered a guilty verdict a year later, the defense sought appellate intervention, contending that evidence derived from the interception of the encrypted Sky ECC messaging service compromised the defendant’s right to a fair trial. However, the appellate tribunal dismissed these assertions, affirming that the conduct of law enforcement adhered to established legal mandates.

Sky ECC, a platform renowned for its end-to-end encryption, was compromised through a coordinated effort supported by Europol. This intervention catalyzed a wave of global detentions and the arrest of the platform’s chief executive, serving as a quintessential element in dismantling vast cybercriminal networks.

While the court exonerated the defendant of one charge involving the trafficking of five metric tons of cocaine, the remaining allegations were upheld. These included unauthorized access to the internal systems of the Rotterdam, Barendrecht, and Antwerp ports to facilitate the clandestine importation of illicit substances.

As articulated in the judicial ruling, the individual operated within a criminal collective to compromise the IT infrastructure of a logistics firm serving the ports. A pivotal component of the breach involved the deployment of contaminated USB storage devices into corporate workstations by employees; the verdict remains ambiguous as to whether these personnel were deceived or acted as willing accomplices.

Through this malware, the perpetrator secured remote access, enabling the exfiltration of sensitive databases and the interception of transmitted data. Furthermore, investigative findings revealed that between September 2020 and April 2021, the accused endeavored to market deleterious software and instructional dossiers to other illicit actors.

This sentence underscores his involvement in cyber incursions utilized to expedite narcotics smuggling and attempted extortion. The tribunal found the defendant culpable across all primary counts, affirming a final term of seven years in custodial detention.