The importance of dark web monitoring for growers and buyers

During the Day of the Cooperation (11 December 2025), Chief Information Security Officer Bas Wevers (Royal FloraHolland) and Passguard CEO Tom Leijte explained that cybercrime does not only affect large companies. The business data of smaller companies also ends up on the dark web, where it is offered for sale. Since the presentation, more than 25 new growers and buyers have signed up for the Royal FloraHolland Cyber Subscription. In this article, Bas Wevers and Tom Leijte explain once again how you can protect yourself against cybercriminals. 

Royal FloraHolland aims to increase the digital resilience of our own marketplace and the entire floriculture sector. Awareness of cyber security is very important. That awareness is growing, but there are still plenty of growers and buyers who think that cybercriminals don't have anyhing to gain from them. ‘If you think like that, you might as well leave your windows and doors open when you go on a holiday,’ says Tom Leijte. ‘There is always something interesting to steal. If cybercriminals can steal even a small amount of money or information from you, they will do so.’ 

Underestimation 

According to Bas Wevers, the floriculture sector is very interesting for cybercriminals. ‘Due to the increasing digitisation of our own marketplace with Floriday and the digitisation of the entire floriculture sector, we are increasingly faced with cyber incidents. More than 50% of all organizations are victims of cybercrime. As a sector, we have a turnover of around 8 billion euros. It's not surprising that criminals think there's something to gain. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs still underestimate this. It has been said many times before: as a floriculture sector, we are only as strong as our weakest link. It is important that all individual growers and buyers are aware of cyber security. Not only for themselves, but for the sector as a whole.’ 

From data breaches to greenhouse shutdowns 

Tom: ‘During Cooperative Day, we received many responses along the lines of: “What's in it for me?” But you can also turn it around: how important is this for you? Suppose your email is hacked. Then you can no longer communicate with customers or suppliers. Or criminals could take over that communication. Even worse: they could demand a ransom in exchange for access to your own email. But the operational consequences can also be severe. Cultivation and cooling processes could come to a standstill. That could cost the organization a lot of money. The deeper cybercriminals get into your business, the greater the damage will be.’ 

Our latest Floriculture Trend Report showed that three-quarters of the growers hardly consider these operational consequences. 

Data on the dark web 

Every month, the login details of multiple Floriday accounts are offered for sale on the dark web. How do they end up there? Bas: "It's not Floriday's fault. Previously, this was often because entrepreneurs used the same password for a third-party service, such as a social media platform. At Royal FloraHolland, we have now made multi-factor authentication (MFA) available for logging in, which has reduced these kinds of risks. And in time, we will also make multi-factor authentication mandatory when logging in to Floriday. 

‘And more needs to be done,‘ says Bas, who was recently a victim himself. ’My data was also stolen online. It happened when I bought tickets for a festival through an online webshop. My data was leaked through the seller of the tickets. So yes, even someone who deals with digital security every day can fall victim to this." 

The danger of infostealers 

The latest and greatest threat at the moment is so-called infostealer malware. This is a computer virus that steals data from infected devices without being noticed. The number of incidents involving infostealer malware has increased 16-fold in five years. To fight this as effectively as possible, Royal FloraHolland is working with Passguard. Founded by Tom Leijte, the company monitors criminal marketplaces on the dark web and provides Royal FloraHolland with concrete threat information. 

Scanning of criminal marketplaces 

‘Infostealer malware not only steals passwords, but also session tokens that can be used to bypass two-step verification,’ says Tom. ‘This often involves unmanaged devices such as home PCs or suppliers' laptops. An organization doesn't even know that someone unauthorized is inside the system.’ Passguard continuously maps offers on criminal marketplaces. ‘We now know which devices with access to our customers' systems are infected, when that happened and what access information has been stolen. This enables our customers, in this case Royal FloraHolland, to take immediate action.’ 

Dark web scan part of Cyber Subscription 

Bas is pleased with the collaboration with Passguard. ‘It gives us access to the data that has been leaked. That gives us insight and a perspective for action. I am very pleased that the dark web scan from Passguard is now also part of the Royal FloraHolland Cyber Subscription. In addition to regular cyber updates from the Greenport Cyber Resilience Centre we also offer practical tools, special offers and events as part of the Cyber Subscription.’ 

Bas continues: ‘If you subscribe now (free of charge), you will receive a dark web report and find out whether your company data is already circulating on the dark web. This report shows you, if applicable, what information has been leaked from your data or from your website. As a follow-up you can take action and restore your accounts immediately. This is of great added value to your business operations.’ 

What can you do yourself? 

Tom: ‘It's great that we can offer this to all members. Cyber solutions are often too abstract. But this solution makes it very accessible. It allows us to make a real impact in the entire floriculture sector.’ What else can members do, besides taking out the Royal FloraHolland Cyber Subscription? ‘Setting up two-step verification and a good password manager are the minimum requirements,’ says Tom. 

Bas adds: ‘It still starts with the intrinsic motivation of the entrepreneur. They need to recognize the importance of digital security and want to do something about it. 

Fortunately, awareness is growing. It is no coincidence that in the weeks following Cooperative Day, more than 25 new growers and buyers have already taken out this subscription. I would like to say to other growers and buyers: follow their example and join us!’ 

Want to take your own cyber security to the next level? Sign up for the RFH Cyber Subscription for free. And read more about the actions Royal FloraHolland is taking to keep our marketplace digitally secure.