News item | 12-11-2025 | 07:00
Recent research by the government shows that Dutch people do not see the need for double security of e-mail. 4 in 10 (38%) do not find their own email interesting for criminals and only a quarter (25%) set up two-step verification on email. Access to a mailbox is attractive for a criminal, because they can log in with your name to online services and commit identity fraud. The government wants to make all Dutch people aware of the importance of doubly securing your email. Dutch people are therefore encouraged to introduce a double lock.
Password does not provide sufficient protection
Half of users (51%) assume that their password is sufficient to secure their email. Due to data theft However, passwords are increasingly falling into the wrong hands.
Koen Sandbrink, strategic cybercrime advisor at the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC): “A stolen password is abused in more than 3/4 of all online crime. Setting up two-step verification, or a double lock, offers protection against this abuse.”
- Almost half of users (48%) think that their email contains little important information, and among users aged 65+ this is even 61%;
- 1 in 3 users (32%) think that criminals cannot do much with access to
their private email. This is also considerably higher among users aged 65+ (43%); - Users aged 65+ are much less likely to secure their private email with two-step verification (12%) than users under 65 (28%).
Access to email is gold for criminals
Many Dutch people underestimate what a criminal can do with access to their email. For example, the majority of users (61%) do not know that a criminal with access to a personal mailbox can log in to linked online services. Many users (49%) are also unaware that a criminal can change passwords of accounts at linked services. This allows these criminals, for example, to place orders, resulting in financial damage. Furthermore, a criminal can steal sensitive personal information, commit identity fraud or try to extort you or others. Two-step verification offers protection against this.
Double security is twice as safe
The central government wants this with the multi-year campaign ‘Doubly secured is twice as safe’
underline the importance of setting up two-step verification or ‘Two-Factor Authentication’, abbreviated 2FA. 2FA means that after entering a username and password, you must confirm in another way that the (email) account is yours. This can be done, for example, by entering a security code that you receive via a text message or an authenticator app. Do you want to know how you can better protect yourself with 2FA? Then go to veiliginternetten.nl/wat-tweestapsverigheid/.
About the research
The research ‘Use of 2FA in the Netherlands’ was conducted in October 2025 by Motivaction on behalf of the National Government. The representative sample consists of 1,048 respondents aged 18 and over and 822 respondents aged 65 and over.
Of the respondents aged 18 years and older in this study, 81% have used e-mail in the last year, while this is 73% among respondents aged 65 years and older. We call this group ‘(email) users’ in this news item.
Saturday, November 15: Two-step day with Barbara de Loo
At the Kaapse Bossen in Doorn, ‘Netherlands in Motion’ presenter Barbara de Loor will encourage people to take literal and figurative steps towards online safety this Saturday. On behalf of the central government, a team is present to provide assistance with setting up a double lock on email. The walking day starts at 11 a.m. and lasts about an hour.
Interested parties are welcome from 10 a.m. at Het Wapen van Sandenburg, in Doorn. Also at the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen in Vogelenzang and the Sallandse Heuvelrug in Holten
Teams will be present this Saturday to explain to walkers the importance of
two-step verification and offering practical help with setting up two-step verification.