Dutch Justice Department Severs Internet Access Following Citrix Exploit—May Stay Offline for Weeks
According to reporting by Dutch news outlet NOS, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service—part of the Netherlands' Department of Justice—disconnected from the internet on July 19, 2025, following a confirmed security breach. Authorities believe the attackers exploited a known vulnerability in Citrix NetScaler, commonly referred to as Citrix Bleed 2, which allows malicious actors to hijack user sessions by extracting tokens from device memory. The National Cyber Security Centre had issued multiple warnings about the flaw earlier in July.
The internet shutdown has had major operational impacts. As of July 21, NOS reports that the department may remain offline for weeks. Employees cannot access email or work remotely, and prosecutors are unable to edit or print case files. While on-site work is possible, access to digital case materials is severely restricted. The full legal and procedural consequences of the outage on upcoming court cases remain unclear.
