Dutch Intelligence Registered Cyberespionage Attempts By China, Russia In 2018 - Reports

The Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) said in its annual report on Tuesday that it had registered attempts by China and Russia to steal the country's military secrets last year, local media reported, citing the report

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2019) The Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) said in its annual report on Tuesday that it had registered attempts by China and Russia to steal the country's military secrets last year, local media reported, citing the report.

The report described these acts of espionage "very worrying," the Dutch news media outlet reported.

"The threat facing the armed forces is the theft of military technology and technological expertise, which can be used for both military and civil ends," the report said, as quoted by the outlet.

According to the report, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and Syria also tried to compromise databases in the Netherlands and other countries last year in search of information that would help them develop their national armament programs.

"Our role of ensuring safety is expanding due to growing threats ... We have screened dozens of defense companies and helped them to secure strategic information. In doing this, we are preventing military secrets [from] leaking out," MIVD Director Onno Eichelsheim said, commenting on the spying attempts.

Four Russian citizens were expelled from the Netherlands last year on suspicion of spying for Moscow and attempting a cyberattack on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' headquarters in the Hague. The Russian Foreign Ministry has refuted the claims of espionage and stressed that the "spymania campaign" unleashed in the Netherlands was seriously undermining bilateral relations.