DDoS attack disrupts DigiD and Dutch Tax Administration services

A DDoS attack has disrupted access to DigiD, affecting people trying to log in to Dutch government services, including the Tax Administration, the AD has reported.

Some 4,500 complaints were logged the DigiD system between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., according to Allestoringen. Just under 500 people reported issues with the Belastingdienst on the independent service status website, when 20 would have been expected during the same timeframe. There was also a sharp jump in issues related to government website MijnOverheid.

The timing of a DDoS attack on Friday likely affected entrepreneurs, businesses, and accountants. Value-added tax declarations for the third quarter are due to be submitted by the end of Saturday.

"Because of the attack, some users are experiencing problems with the service,” a spokesperson for Logius, the government agency responsible for operating DigiD and other digital government services, said. The spokesperson added that Logius was working to restore the online services.

The attacker's identity is unknown. Investigators are currently examining whether any user data was stolen. The websites are still online, although people may experience trouble accessing services through the login system. Logius confirmed that it will report the attack to the police to establish who was responsible. "We will investigate the cause and consequences of the attack and learn from them."

Logius, which operates under the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, has advised people who could not log in to try again later. "It may work five minutes later."

Today’s incident comes after several months of recurring attacks against DigiD . State Secretary Eric van der Burg confirmed on October 7 that DigiD faces DDoS attacks every day, although most are successfully mitigated before they affect availability.

He also acknowledged that the number of attacks causing actual disruptions had increased during 2026. "It is true that there have been more DDoS attacks this year that have had an impact, and that these attacks are also becoming more complicated and targeted."

Van der Burg said he was investigating how DigiD could be made more resistant to these targeted attacks.

Just 24 days before the latest attack, Logius and the Belastingdienst conducted a joint exercise to practise defending government services against DDoS attacks. The exercise focused on recognising suspicious internet traffic, ensuring technical specialists know how to respond when services are disrupted, and coordinating responses between different government organisations.

DDoS stands for distributed denial-of-service. An attacker uses large numbers of devices or compromised computers to send enormous quantities of requests to a website or online service simultaneously. The volume of requests can overwhelm the system, making it difficult for legitimate users to access it.