The Netherlands is going to discuss and possibily implement the “terughackwet”, this law will allow the Dutch government to hack cybercriminals. They do claim that they will use it to counter-hacks but it has happened before that they were unaware of which server they were hacking.
The Dutch police did report that they had hacked a foreign server. It happened with the responsibility of the Public Prosecutor, and after authorization by a magistrate. Because the location of the server that was hacked was then unknown.
Minister Opstelten points out that the term hacking in the Code of Criminal Procedure does not occur. He calls the intrusion of suspicious computer “required” for the detection of many types of Internet crime.
The minister promised that the bill cybercrime III ensures that the investigative authorities can grow with new technological possibilities.
He mentions the possibility to store information anywhere in the world. However, he writes that strict conditions and an order of the public prosecutor will be required when hacking suspect servers.
The government has already announced its intention to increase the number of investigations into cybercrime. In 2015, the number of studies is expected to be 200, but in 2018 it has to be increased to 360 per year.