After the major data leak at the Zwijndrecht police, which VTM NEWS and HLN brought to light, MP Michael Freilich of opposition party N-VA responds that Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) should have anticipated better and should have taken a more proactive approach around cyber security. The party will also ask parliamentary questions to it and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld). There is also a bill. Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld) is asking for consultation with Verlinden and the local police zones.
Yorick Dupon
25 Nov. 2022
Source:
own coverage, VTM NEWS
Due to the hack, which VTM NEWS and HLN brought to light, thousands of number plates, flash fines and PVs with photos of minors ended up on the internet. They come from a poorly secured internal network of the Zwijndrecht police zone.
MP Michael Freilich is dismayed by the hack. According to the N-VA politician, the blame does not lie entirely with the chief of police of the Zwijndrecht police zone, but Minister Verlinden should have anticipated better. He says this by telephone to HLN.
For Freilich, there should be a ban on storing sensitive data with local police zones. The N-VA parliamentary group will also submit a bill to this end. It would also be better to manage this kind of IT systems centrally by the federal police and not police zone by police zone. But that must be decided by the government itself, because an opposition party cannot take any steps to do so.
Parliamentary questions are also being put to Verlinden and Prime Minister De Croo (he is responsible for Cyber Security, ed.). Freilich wants to know who was aware of the data breach and when, what lessons are learned from the incident and what steps the government is taking to better protect police data.
Officially, the Interior Minister has not yet commented on the matter. “We cannot provide any additional information in this regard. The investigation is ongoing,” the government told VTM NEWS on Thursday.
Van Quickenborne will respond to the case on Friday, at the start of the core cabinet. He wants consultation with Verlinden and the local police zones. “We also have to invest preventively in improving the security of the network, including that of the police,” he says to Karel Lattrez.
Read also: One of the biggest police data breaches ever: hacker throws speeding fines, number plates and even photos of abused children on the street (+)
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