Suspected ShinyHunters Member Arrested in Netherlands, Faces Murder-for-Hire Charges

Dutch police announced Tuesday the arrest of a 24-year-old man from Amsterdam suspected of involvement with the ShinyHunters hacker group, a collective implicated in numerous significant data breaches. The suspect also faces accusations of attempting to arrange two murders, separate from the cybercrime investigation.

The arrest, which occurred on September 15, was disclosed by the Dutch police, who stated that information found on the suspect’s laptop led to the solicitation of murder charges. The Dutch police statement did not reference the FBI hack or coordination with U.S. law enforcement.

FBI Director Kash Patel acknowledged the arrest on X (formerly Twitter), confirming that the FBI and Dutch National Police had apprehended one of the alleged leaders of ShinyHunters, a group linked to cyberattacks in the United States, the Netherlands, and globally. Patel indicated that FBI teams are actively pursuing further leads based on this development.

ShinyHunters recently claimed responsibility for breaching the FBI’s jobs website, FBIJobs.gov, asserting they had obtained sensitive data belonging to thousands of agents and applicants. The group had reportedly demanded the FBI correct what they called false allegations in a May public advisory that identified ShinyHunters as a cybercriminal organization specializing in data breaches and extortion.

The FBI had stated last week that it was investigating the claimed hack of its jobs portal. The validity of the claims made by ShinyHunters could not be immediately verified.

A court in Rotterdam ordered the suspect to be detained for an additional 90 days. Dutch detectives seized data storage devices during their investigation and have not ruled out further arrests, emphasizing the importance of apprehending cybercrime suspects in their ongoing fight against such activities.