Business

Telecom provider Odido has refused to negotiate with hackers following a massive data breach affecting over six million accounts. Despite threats from the ShinyHunters group to leak sensitive customer details daily, the company is following government advice to reject all ransom demands.

Philips has reached a settlement in the United States following a long-running lawsuit involving a ventilator that allegedly caught fire five years ago, causing a patient to suffer burns. Although Philips denies all liability and maintains that the fire was caused by an external factor, the healthcare technology firm opted to settle the case for an undisclosed sum to avoid the escalating costs of US litigation. A company spokesperson described the situation as deeply unfortunate but stressed that this private dispute is entirely separate from the significant legal challenges Philips has faced since 2021 regarding its major recall of sleep apnoea devices.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has green-lit the acquisition of Solvinity—the IT provider behind the technical operation of DigiD—by the American firm Kyndryl, despite significant political and expert concerns regarding digital sovereignty and data security. While the ACM concluded that the takeover poses no threat to market competition, it acknowledged that public sector anxieties over the Netherlands' digital autonomy remain high. Because the US government can legally intervene in American corporations operating abroad, the deal is now under intense scrutiny by the Bureau for Economic Security (BTI), which is conducting a separate investigation to determine whether the acquisition presents a genuine risk to national security.

The Dutch Central Bank is pushing for financial firms to decouple from foreign IT providers to protect against geopolitical volatility. Director Steven Maijoor believes that while total independence is unlikely, shifting to European cloud services is essential for long-term security.

It’s fascinating to see a European firm like Axelera AI gaining such significant backing to challenge the dominance of giants like Nvidia.

A major new study has found that over 20,000 people are homeless in the Amsterdam and The Hague regions, many of whom are women and children. The census also highlighted a growing crisis in Eindhoven, where over 1,500 people are without a home, prompting calls for urgent government intervention to address the national housing shortage.

The mental health organisation Phitaal has requested a suspension of payment following years of financial difficulty. While an administrator looks for a way to restart the business, health insurers have guaranteed that treatment will continue for thousands of patients across the Netherlands.

The Dutch mobile provider Odido is contacting customers following a cyberattack on its contact systems. Although service remains unaffected, personal details such as names and bank account numbers may have been accessed. Customers can avail F-secure, a digital security package for better protection. The free package offered spans 24 months.