Personal data of almost entire Dutch town stolen in cyberattack

Hackers stole personal data of thousands of residents in a town in the eastern Netherlands during a cyberattack targeting the server of Epe municipality, media reports said Thursday.

Epe municipality reported the cyberattack affecting 32,000 residents last month following an extensive investigation, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported.

Contact details of residents were stolen in the attack, while copies of IDs belonging to more than 1,000 residents were also taken.

"As a municipality, we are supposed to take good care of citizens' data, and we take that seriously. Unfortunately, things went wrong anyway," Mayor Tom Horn said, according to the broadcaster.

According to the report, all residents in the municipality of Epe will soon receive a letter informing them of the situation and what they can do to prevent misuse of their data.

To reduce the risk of identity fraud, affected residents may replace their driver's licenses, identity cards and passports free of charge.

The stolen personal data was stored on a server used exclusively by employees who joined the service after 2022.