Delft University cybercrime experts have been drafted in to assess how consumer goods which are connected to the internet, such as smart doorbells or toys, can be best protected against hacking and viruses. ‘We expect 30 million pieces of apparatus to be connected to the internet by 2020,’ junior economic affairs minister Mona Keizers said. ‘Smart thermostats, fridges and tvs are all attractive to consumers and offer companies extra sources of income. But using them securely is not a given and could make people vulnerable and open to viruses or theft.’ The minister is funding the university to look into both new products and products which have already been hacked. The aim, she said, is to boost awareness and help manufacturers take steps to improve products which link to internet in a network known as the Internet of Things. One in five people told a ministry research project that they had no idea how to make sure items such as lamps or toy and which are connected to the internet are secure.   More >

Police spent three years and €400,000 developing an emergency response app that has never been used, RTL Nieuws has revealed. The justice ministry ordered the police to build the app, which identified the location of callers to the 112 hotline in 2016 as a matter of priority. Ministers set a deadline of four months to complete the project, but a string of setbacks meant development work only began in early 2018. By the time it was finished the app had been overtaken by other mobile phone technology and was deemed surplus to requirements. Two delegations travelled to Finland on fact-finding missions to study a similar app used by police there. Finnish developer Digia agreed to sell the rights to use its design for €50,000, but the Dutch wanted to build their own app rather than adapt the Finnish version. Research agency TNO warned that the app was likely to be of limited use, since it could only locate callers who dialled in via the app and not their phone’s keypad. But senior police officers and politicians pressed on with the project, urging developers to display a ‘can-do’ mentality, RTL reported. The app was due to be launched in 2017, but although a communications strategy was drawn up that included ‘free publicity’ via TV shows such as Hart van Nederland, development work only began in February 2018. Around the same time the new justice minister, Ferd Grapperhaus, said he wanted to prioritise the introduction of Advanced Mobile Location (AML), which is already used in other countries and does not require a separate app. A police spokeswoman acknowledged that the ‘location function of the 112-app is essentially superfluous’, but added: ‘We are looking at whether more functions can be added to the app, such as images or a chat facility.’  More >

Voting, regulating marijuana cultivation, literacy and final student year dissertations all came on board in the Dutch papers this week. Trouw published a piece by GroenLinks member Jelis van Leeuwen, in which he called for voting to be made mandatory. The turnout for the European elections, 42% in the Netherlands and 51% across the EU, was bad news for elections in democratic countries, and that ‘exactly because the Netherlands is a consensus democracy, it is crucial that as many votes are cast as possible,’ he said. Van Leeuwen argued that reintroducing mandatory voting, which was abolished in 1970, was the simplest and easiest way to get people to vote. Not voting, he said,  should be punished with a fine of up to €240, but people should have the option to hand in a blank voting form. In a column in the Volkskrant, college lecturer Nico Keuning said that universities should get rid of the final dissertation required for students to graduate. ‘Learning to write a readable, structured and supported dissertation with sources, on the basis of research and in correct Dutch or English, is often not even part of the curriculum, putting the average student in an impossible situation,’ Keuning said. Dissertations Students are often given pass grades out of pity, and many teachers are not capable of grading or supporting the writing of a 50-page dissertation, Keuning said. The writer offered another solution: allow students to choose between a presentation or a dissertation. The Telegraaf honed in on the government’s plans to experiment with regulated marijuana cultivation, with an opinion piece by former police chief Jan Blaauw. Blaauw argued that ‘in the end, legalising is surrendering to the drugs trade.’ Instead of legalising, the government should be doing more to fight drugs, the former police chief said.. ‘In my opinion, drug-related crime should be punished harshly. I’m not impressed with our country’s punishments. If you poison society, you shouldn’t get away with community service.’ Literacy The Financieele Dagblad published an article by a number of people involved in vocational training, and including Mariette Hamer of the government's advisory group SER, in which they called on the government to do more to combat illiteracy. ‘How is it possible that, in a prosperous country like the Netherlands, 2.5 million people are falling behind because of poor language, maths and digital skills?,’ the column asked. The writers called for more effort to be put into solutions, such as educational programmes, and was critical of the budget put aside by the government. While the government added €2m more per year, it should be doubled at least, the writers said. ‘It’s high time for an attacking and integral approach, with a budget that really gets results.’  More >

The Netherlands is particularly vulnerable to IT failures and attacks because almost all vital processes and systems have been completely digitised with no analogue back-ups, the Dutch counter terrorism unit NCTV said on Wednesday. ‘The Netherlands is dependent on a limited number of providers and countries. This makes us vulnerable to changed intentions,’ the report said. ‘For example, a large part of the hard and software is designed and produced in China and the US.’ In addition, little expertise is needed to launch a cyber attack which could, for example, knock out gas, electricity and water supplies. The best way to reduce the risks is to improve security systems. And while companies and government are taking action, they sometimes think the cost of the improvements are not worth it ‘until things go wrong,’ the NCTV said. The biggest threats come from China, Russia and Iran, the NCTV said, in a restatement of earlier reports. China presents the greatest threat in terms of economic espionage while Russia considers the Netherlands ‘interesting’ because of MH17, the report said.  More >

The Dutch public broadcasting system is to be overhauled to reduce the amount of advertising and boost regional programming, broadcaster NOS said, quoting cabinet sources. The three state channels NPO 1,2 and 3, will be advertising-free until 8pm and all advertising will be removed from the online services, NOS said. The biggest impact will be on NPO3 which currently focuses on more youth orientated programming. Instead its remit will be largely to carry regional programming from the 12 provincial broadcasters. Scrapping adverts during daytime and early evening viewing will cost some €60m, of which €40m will be compensated for by the treasury. Savings and programming fees will make up the rest of the shortfall, NOS said. Media minister Arie Slob is currently working on a briefing for parliament about the proposals, but no date has yet been set for the changes to be formally presented. There are currently eight main Dutch public broadcasting companies operating under the NPO banner: AVROTROS, BNNVARA, EO, KRO-NCRV, MAX, Powned, VPRO and WNL, plus the news arm NOS and a number of specialist companies.  More >