Police reports are on the street because of expired domain names

Due to the fact that the police have allowed a large number of domain names to expire, several reports have come into the hands of an ethical hacker. He registered the domain names and received the confidential information by e-mail.

Among other things, the domain name Politiebrabantnoord.nl has expired, making it available for others to register. Ethical hacker Wouter Slotboom registered a number of expired domain names and received the security plan for the Christmas market in Dordrecht by email, among other things, as well as other confidential reports.

According to Slotboom, the problem lies in the habituation of agents to e-mail to certain addresses. In the past, agents sent email to addresses of domain names per police force, but that is now [email protected]. “Everyone who mails daily uses automatic insertion of mail addresses, so that you pay less attention to who you are mailing. If you are used to emailing Kees at [email protected], that is also the first suggestion you get when you Kees again by e-mail,” Slotboom tells BNR.

According to him, the problem can easily be solved by keeping the old domain names and by linking to @politie.nl. He would have pointed out the risks to the National Police two years ago, but they would not have done anything about it. In a response, the Police states that up to now 3600 old domain names have been registered by the police itself, but that some have slipped through. The police also places responsibility on citizens and officers, as they must use the domain name @politie.nl.