The 17-year-old students are suspected of carrying out a task in The Hague, which was given to them by a pro-Russian hacker via Telegram, writes the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. On August 16, the teenagers allegedly passed by the buildings of Europol, Eurojust, and the Canadian embassy with a "Wi-Fi sniffer," which reads wireless networks and can also intercept data.
One of the teenagers was kept in custody for 14 days, while the other was released under house arrest with an electronic bracelet.
According to the father of one of the teenagers, his son is an avid gamer, knowledgeable about computers, and interested in hacking, but he is not a problematic teenager.
Since May, the Netherlands has tightened legislation, and now attempts to penetrate, for example, a closed Wi-Fi network of Europol can be considered "espionage" for a foreign state — under this article, up to eight years in prison is threatened, notes De Telegraaf.
The publication, citing researcher Bart Schuurman, who studies Russian interference and sabotage attempts in Europe, writes that the arrest of teenagers on suspicion of "digital espionage" for Russia is a unique case for the Netherlands.