The three housing associations in Brabant that have become victims of a cyber attack will not pay a ransom, they announced on Tuesday. In the weekend of March 26 and 27, the systems of the corporations Laurentius, Alwel and Zayaz were attacked and the computer systems went down.
Cyber criminals have demanded a ransom to restart the systems. Nevertheless, the corporations stick to their decision not to pay. The amount involved is unknown.
“First of all, it is about social money. In addition, we do not want to participate in criminal activities and these are ridiculous demands,” says spokesperson Noud Bex. He represents the eight Dutch housing associations in the Netherlands that have been affected by the hack.
Research has now shown that the data of a small number of tenants has been (partially) viewed or stored by the perpetrators, according to a statement on the Zayaz website. It is not clear when the corporations will know exactly what data has been stolen. “When we have that clear, everyone will be informed. We will then advise all affected people where there are possible risks and whether they should change a password, for example,” says Bex. He could not indicate whether the systems of the corporations from Den Bosch, Roosendaal and Breda are working normally again.
Pay ransom or not?
Last year, the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) warned that the threat of cyber attacks will not diminish for the foreseeable future. Then the Police Team High Tech Crime (THTC) also addressed the question of whether or not to pay a ransom when you become a victim of a cyber attack.
“The advice is not to pay”, Marijn Schuurbiers of the THTC emphatically warned. “The ransom demanded often amounts to tons and sometimes more than a million. We see in studies that those proceeds are being used to pay for new attacks on other companies. This keeps the criminal circle going. And if you pay anyway, that’s no guarantee that you’re out of trouble. The stolen company data remains in criminal hands, leaving victims at risk of being extorted a second time.”
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