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A Dutch journalist hacked into a video meeting of EU defense ministers, exposing an embarrassing security hole. Journalist Daniel Verlaan managed to participate in Friday’s ministerial meeting with relative ease, the Rtl television channel announced.
Dutch Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld posted on Twitter a photo of his participation in the online meeting. But an attentive reader noticed that the photo showed five of the six digits of the secret access code to the meeting. Then he tipped the announcer. The last number was quickly found and Verlaan sat down at the virtual negotiating table.
“Do you know that you are going to attend a secret meeting?”
The EU foreign representative, Josep Borrell, had asked the new participant in amazement who he was. “I am a journalist from the Netherlands,” he introduced himself to the 27 EU defense ministers. “Do you know that you’re attending a secret council meeting?” Borrell asked. And: «Do you know that you are committing a crime? I’d better log off quickly before the police arrive. “
Verlaan later apologized for the unrest and left the session. The intermezzo only lasted a few minutes, but at least Verlaan provoked a lot of laughter.
Prime Minister talks about “stupid mistake”
Prime Minister Mark Rutte, however, was not happy about the incident. “That shows once again that ministers must understand the care that must be taken with Twitter,” he said in The Hague. The Defense Ministry spoke of a “stupid mistake”. The photo with the passcode was quickly removed. The minister is currently in home quarantine and wanted to make it clear with the photo that she is also active at home on the kitchen table.
Journalist Verlaan received much praise for his action on social media. On Twitter, a user wrote on his behalf: “Instead of threatening the guy with consequences, you should thank him for bringing the vulnerability to your attention.” (cat / SDA)
