Hacked Dutch Internet company declared bankrupt

A court in Haarlem in the western Netherlands appointed a bankruptcy trustee to manage the liquidation of DigiNotar, parent company VASCO Data Security International said in a statement.

"Although we are saddened by this action and the circumstances that necessitated it, we would like to remind our customers and investors that the incident at DigiNotar has no impact on VASCO's core authentication technology," it said.

Earlier this month, an Iranian hacker claimed he falsified 531 Internet security certificates at DigiNotar in July. The Dutch government has launched an investigation.

The false Internet security certificates, also known as SSLs, were then used in an apparent attempt to snoop on Google users in Iran.

DigiNotar has about 50 employees, according to Dutch news agency ANP.

"We are working to quantify the damages caused by the hackers intrusion into DigiNotars system and will provide an estimate of the range of losses as soon as possible," VASCO executive vice president Cliff Bown said.

Company president Jan Valcke said VASCO hoped to integrate identity verification technology acquired from DigiNotar into its business.

"As a result, we expect to be able to offer a stronger authentication product line in the coming year to our traditional customers."

(c) 2011 AFP