Financial crime investigators in the Netherlands have arrested two men and seized 800 servers connected to a web hosting company accused of supporting cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and online interference operations.
The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, known as FIOD, arrested a 57-year-old man who served as the director of the hosting company, along with a 39-year-old man who led another firm that provided internet connectivity. Authorities say the suspects indirectly supplied economic resources to Russian and Belarusian entities that are under European Union sanctions.
The investigation centers on Stark Industries, a web hosting company founded on February 10, 2022, just days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to FIOD, the company provided support for activities linked to the Russian Federation that were aimed at weakening democracy and security. These activities allegedly included information manipulation and disruption of public and economic systems.
The European Union added Stark Industries to its sanctions list on May 20 last year. After that move, investigators say the company’s hosting infrastructure was transferred to a newly created Dutch company, which they believe acted as a front for the sanctioned entities.
As part of the operation, FIOD carried out raids at data centers in Dronten and Schiphol-Rijk, along with searches in Enschede and Almere. Investigators seized around 800 servers, as well as laptops, phones, and administrative records.
Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reported that the new Dutch entity is WorkTitans B.V., which provides hosting services under the brand THE.Hosting. The outlet also claimed that Danish authorities and infrastructure providers had linked WorkTitans to attacks carried out by the pro-Russian hacktivist group NoName057(16), which has previously targeted major organizations with distributed denial-of-service attacks.
Another company, Mirhosting, based in Almere, reportedly operated physical servers, offered colocation services, and provided high-capacity connectivity to major internet exchanges in Amsterdam and Frankfurt. This made it part of the transport layer through which Stark’s traffic entered Europe and reached the WorkTitans infrastructure.
WorkTitans did not respond to De Volkskrant’s request for comment. Mirhosting, however, denied knowingly supporting illegal activity and said it acted quickly whenever it received abuse complaints.
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