Vander Zijpen is a Belgian fruit and vegetable wholesaler. They've fallen prey to computer hacking. Online hackers attacked this family business. Their goal? To steal client information and bids.
A Dutch supplier informed Vander Zijpen that they'd received an email from a competing wholesaler in Brussels. It asked the supplier for a bid. "The strange thing was, they'd received this email in response to a promotion directed exclusively at Vander Zijpen. The competitor in Brussels couldn't have been aware of it. We then discovered that this competing company had repeatedly logged onto our system. We immediately contacted our lawyer," says Vander Zijpen's Jitse Van Eester.
"The Belgian Public Prosecutor's Office has launched a criminal investigation. There are severe penalties for such offenses in Belgium. Given the case's seriousness, an investigating judge has been appointed. They've already done four searches. We can't currently say more about the case. The investigation is still ongoing," says a company spokesperson.