Netherlands

In the spring of 2021, Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD) researcher Wietse Boonstra quietly uncovered seven critical flaws in Kaseya’s widely used IT management software. DIVD warned the company within days, flagging more than 2,200 vulnerable systems across the globe. Weeks later, three flaws remained unpatched—and the REvil ransomware gang pounced. Overnight, some 1,500 organisations were paralysed, from supermarkets in Sweden to schools in New Zealand. This was not an isolated close call. In a 2023 study with the University of Twente, DIVD found that less than half of Dutch municipalities acted promptly when notified of exploitable flaws in their email systems. In some cases, local authorities ignored the warnings entirely. ...

At the 2025 ArcheoScienceFest in Castellum, Utrecht, we took part in a lively science dialogue session titled Airborne Multispectral Imaging, led by Matthias Lang and Wouter Emaus. The event combined Roman ruins with remote sensing — and offered a glimpse into how drones, wavelengths, and algorithms are quietly revolutionising archaeological discovery. What is airborne multispectral imaging? Multispectral imaging (MSI) involves capturing data across several specific wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum — not just visible light, but also near-infrared and other spectral bands. Plants, soils, and moisture each reflect light differently depending on their condition and composition. This subtle variance, invisible to the naked eye, becomes gold dust to archaeologists. Buried walls, ditches, or pits disturb surface vegetation just enough to leave faint spectral traces — crop marks, soil marks — which MSI can detect with startling accuracy. ...

In De onvoltooide rechtsstaat (The Unfinished Rule of Law), published on 4 June 2025 to mark his retirement from the Dutch Supreme Court, Ybo Buruma offers a sweeping yet pointed dissection of the Netherlands’ legal journey—and its current disintegration. Part historical reflection, part polemic, the book contends that the Dutch rule of law, once a source of pride, is now under threat from populism, political short-termism, and the perilous belief that majority rule is justice enough. ...