Authorities arrested an alleged leader of ShinyHunters, the notorious cybercrime group responsible for a string of high profile extortion attacks since 2025, including last week’s attack on the FBI.
The Dutch National Police said they arrested a 24-year-old man in Amsterdam accused of participating in the cybercrime group. Officials haven’t named the accused man, but independent cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs identified him as Pepjin van der Stap, a previously convicted cybercriminal who moonlighted as a cybersecurity professional.
The arrest, which occurred about a week before ShinyHunters claims it broke into FBI systems and stole reams of data containing sensitive information on almost every FBI agent, marks a major development for global law enforcement’s push to track down and arrest the group’s members.
“Since last year, this cybercriminal and his co-conspirators have allegedly breached more than 140 organizations and taken at least $70 million in extortion payments,” Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, said in a statement on YouTube Tuesday. “They often target third-party vendors in cloud-based platforms, stealing sensitive data and extort victims with threats to publish it.”
The Dutch National Police said they retrieved a large amount of evidence on van der Stap’s laptop, including details about two murders he allegedly ordered abroad. As the investigation continues, a court in Rotterdam ordered him to remain detained awaiting trial for at least 90 days.