Dutch press agency hacked by civil servants
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/071105-press-agency-spy-row
By Rob Kievit
05-11-2007
Press freedom is almost sacred in the Netherlands, and direct government
interference is unheard of. No Dutch cabinet, whatever its political
complexion, would risk being accused of muzzling the press. The
Netherlands ranks 12th on the 169-country Worldwide Press Freedom Index,
published annually by Reporters without Borders.
That is why a furore is raging over an apparent case of government
personnel spying on the independent GPD press agency. Since June 2006,
civil servants at the ministry of Social Affairs reportedly logged on
secretly to GPD's internal computer network. Not just once or twice, but
almost daily.
Snooping
Apparently the civil servants gained access using passwords and codes
belonging to a former GPD employee and a journalist still working at the
agency. For over a year, government staff were snooping around in the
newsroom computers of GPD and its associated newspapers.
GPD discovered the intrusions when the ministry's press office contacted
the agency to ask for changes in an unpublished story - a portrait of
Social Affairs Minister Piet-Hein Donner.
snip