Apologies, with that on Monday morning the criminal case against the Lord U. Who would have stolen from tens of thousands of euros to Haspels with electricity cables and would also have stolen the boat of an old couple in the public gallery. However, the apologies do not come from the 53-year-old suspect, but from the judge. The criminal case started more than an hour late.
“We have major problems with IT systems and are therefore delayed. We have had to get information from all corners and gaps that cannot be done via Citrix,” says the police judge of the Hague court. “And that is not yet resolved.”
The window of his courtroom offers a view of the culprit: the College of Procurators General of the Public Prosecution Service that is sitting about seventy meters away. Due to serious concerns about the safety of the digital working environment, the OM-Top decided to take the Public Prosecution Service completely offline on Thursday evening. As a result, mailing with the OM and working remotely – as from the courtroom – is no longer possible. Lawyers can also tell NRCno longer in the portal in which the criminal files and other relevant documents represent the defense. On Monday afternoon, the college announced that the offline period will probably take ‘weeks’.
On Monday afternoon the college announced that the offline period will probably take ‘weeks’
The OM uses the Software Netscaler from the American company Citrix to give employees access to internal systems remotely remotely. A vulnerability was found in the Citrix software last month that hackers can abuse. At the OM that seems to have happened. In a press release, the Public Prosecution Service stated on Friday that research indicates that “actually used” of the security vulnerable.
The college therefore decided to disconnect the digital environment of the OM from the internet. This means that for the time being, OM employees can only log in to office locations, are not available from outside the OM and that various digital systems only work limited.
The problems for the criminal justice chain were increased on Monday because the case law also obtained an essential part of the IT infrastructure offline, because of a-in his own words-other vulnerability.
The consequences are great, lawyers say in the court of The Hague. For example, they cannot in the lawyer portal with their criminal file pieces. “I try to log in and it doesn’t work,” says Damian Roos, who has been waiting for an hour and a half in the corridor of the Hague court with his client who is suspected of threatening officials. In the portal are the current affairs in which Roos is set as a lawyer. He looks prior to sessions or new pieces have been added. Because he has not downloaded his client’s criminal file, he cannot draw it out. “Fortunately it is largely in my head and I already have my plea. But if the judge or officer soon refers to page 41 of the criminal file I have a problem.”
This should not take longer than a few days, this is very bothering me
Mails that ‘bouncing’
The worries under the legal profession live broadly. “This should not take longer than a few days, this is very bothering me,” says lawyer Michiel Glas on Monday morning that it is for weeks offline. He points out that “both the Public Prosecution Service and the Judiciary is fully digital” and, for example, it is communicated via e -mail about matters and adding new documents to the criminal file. Glas saw about twenty emails since Friday on the OM ‘Bouncing’.
In the session room, which he just walked out, he was confronted with that last-minute procedural documents were not exchanged between the OM, case law and legal profession. “In this case that was resolved by reading the documents, so the case ended.”
A few hours later confronted by telephone with the news that it is offline for weeks, he speaks of “a big drama.” On Friday, he must submit a ‘claim for injured parties’ for a thus in a case whereby the OM wants to impose a penalty through a criminal decision outside the court. That happens digitally. “I would not know how to do that now.”
When requested, the Council for the Judiciary says that “occasional” sessions have been canceled because of the problems at the OM, but that there is no central overview thereof. According to a spokesperson, “everything in everything” is put to make lawsuits make as much passage as possible. For example, documents are printed for officers. The case law has also decided not as usual to the Public Prosecution Service, but directly to the CJIB (Central Judicial Collection Agency), which then ensures the achievement of the imposed fine, community service, community service, or prison sentence.
Citrix
Almost the entire central government uses Citrix. The fact that the Public Prosecution Service is the only party that has been hit so hard raises questions about the moment when the Public Prosecution Service has installed the ‘patches’ (plasters) with which the leak could be closed. Citrix already made security updates available on 17 June, but it is unclear when the Public Prosecution Service implemented it. A spokesperson for the college does not want to answer questions about this. To get clarity about this, the VVD asked parliamentary questions to the outgoing cabinet on Monday.
The ICT problems also appear to penetrate in the Court of The Hague in the criminal case against Mr. U. Not only does his session start an hour later. Moreover, the public prosecutor is unable to submit a written change to the proceedings because she has ‘not the resources’ for that now. U. is therefore less suspected of a fact. Unfortunately for the man there are still 7 criminal offenses left. “You are just constantly working on stealing electricity cables and if it has to be a boat,” notes the police judge who imposes 10 months in prison.
With the cooperation of Rik Wassens
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