Pilot: Twenty Companies Help Justice get Young Hackers on the Right Track

Getting and keeping young hackers (12-23 years old) on the right track. That is the objective of Hack_Right, a pilot programme of the police and Public Prosecution (OM) in collaboration with ReclasseringNederland, Halt and the Council for Child Protection. At the ‘Partners in Crime’ meeting in Woerden on 29 October, twenty companies signed a declaration of intent to participate in the pilot.

Martijn Egberts, national cybercrime portfolio holder OM: "We should not wait for young hackers to grow into bigger criminals. In particular when young people take their first steps on the criminal hack path, we need to find them and let them follow the Hack_Right course."

Alternative or additional penalty

Hack_Right is a pilot project in which the OM, Dutch Police, ReclasseringNederland, Halt and the Council for Child Protection collaborate to design a new criminal-law course for young hackers. Hackers between the age of 12 and 23, who have committed a cybercrime for the first time, are given the opportunity to improve their behaviour within Hack_Right. The youngsters get an alternative or additional punishment aimed at recovery, training and coaching. The objective of Hack_Right is preventing recidivism, and at the same time letting the youngster develop their talents, within the legal framework.

Floor Jansen, Team High Tech Crime of the National Police: "At such a moment, behavioural change is still the most promising. If they get more involved with crime, it becomes a lot more difficult. Cybercrime is one of the greatest threats to our society."

The cooperation of ethical hackers and companies is also indispensable. At thsi moment, there are more than 20 companies which are enthusiastic about training and coaching the youngsters. This concerns both large and small companies, in the cybersecurity sector, but also organisations from the banking sector and accountancy.

Thanks to a contribution from the Ministry of Justice and Security’s 'Koers en Kansen-programme', Hack_Right can be further developed. The 'Koers en Kansen-programme' investigates what more effective sanctions besides the existing measures such as fines, community service and imprisonment are.

Click here for the full article in Dutch.