Dutch police announced on September 15 that they had arrested a 24-year-old man from Amsterdam in connection with the hacking collective known as ShinyHunters. The group has been tied to breaches of Ticketmaster, Rockstar Games, and a recent intrusion of the FBI’s public-facing systems that resulted in the theft of employee data.

According to a statement from Dutch law enforcement, the suspect was taken into custody just days before the FBI disclosed that it had been targeted by ShinyHunters. Neither the Dutch authorities nor the FBI have publicly identified the individual, but investigative reporting by Krebs on Security and a separate Reuters dispatch have linked the arrested person to Pepijn van der Stap, a Dutch national previously convicted of data theft and extortion in 2023.

Krebs on Security reports that van der Stap had been employed by Neo Security, a cybersecurity firm based in the Netherlands, after completing a prison sentence related to earlier offenses. Representatives of ShinyHunters told Reuters that van der Stap “has no association” with the group, a claim that has not been independently verified.

Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, described the arrested individual as one of the alleged leaders of ShinyHunters during a video released on Tuesday. He warned that remaining members are under active investigation, stating, “The longer you stay in this, the more we learn about you. You know how to find us, and we know how to find you.”

Dutch police added that the suspect is also under investigation for alleged attempted incitement to commit two murders, though no formal charges have been disclosed. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that the arrest is part of a broader effort to pursue additional leads, writing on X that “FBI teams are actively working with partners to obtain and execute more leads in the ongoing investigation based on this arrest.”

The case underscores the growing international cooperation in tracking cybercriminal networks and highlights the persistent threat posed by groups that blend data theft, extortion, and high-profile intrusions.