Europe’s infamous hacker Julius Kivimäki has lastly been jailed for blackmailing 33,000 remedy sufferers with stolen notes, concluding an 11-year cyber-crime spree, bringing closure to a high-profile case that rocked Finland.
Aleksanteri Kivimäki, previously identified by the primary identify Julius, was convicted on April 30 by a courtroom in Finland of all costs regarding the hack of Vastaamo, a Helsinki-based personal psychotherapy middle, that was made public in 2020 when the digital miscreant started to extort particular person sufferers by threatening to publish their stolen info on-line, The Record reported final week.
The 26-year-old cyber felony was consequently discovered responsible of greater than 9,200 counts of disseminating info infringing individuals’s personal lives, greater than 20,000 counts of tried blackmail, and 20 counts of blackmail.
Moreover, Kivimäki will independently face greater than 5,000 impartial claims for compensation associated to his crimes, The Document reported.
Europe’s infamous hacker, Aleksanteri Kivimäki, was convicted for blackmailing 33,000 remedy sufferers
Picture credit: EU most wanted
In accordance with End newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the district courtroom described the hacker’s crimes as “notably reprehensible and ruthless.”
The stolen database from Vastaamo psychotherapy contained the deepest secrets and techniques of a giant cross-section of society, together with kids, the BBC reported on Monday (Might 6). Delicate conversations on topics from extra-marital affairs to confessions of crimes had been now a bargaining chip.
Tiina, one in all Kivimäki’s many victims, was blackmailed after the End lawbreaker obtained her personal info from Vastaamo, the place she was a affected person.
Identical to along with his different targets, Kivimäki demanded a ransom, threatening to publish her intimate therapy data on-line.
Picture credit: www.youtube.com
The blackmailer, identified solely as ransom_man by his sign-off on-line, reportedly demanded victims pay him €200 inside 24 hours or he would publish their info. In the event that they didn’t meet that deadline, he elevated it to €500.
“It was a suffocating feeling,” she instructed the BBC. “I used to be sat there in my gown feeling like somebody had invaded my personal world and was attempting to earn a living with my life’s trauma.”
The assault on Vastaamo started in 2018, ensuing within the theft of data belonging to a complete of 33,000 remedy sufferers, constituting the biggest variety of victims in a felony case in Finland’s historical past.
Lawyer Jenni Raiskio, who represented 2,600 of the victims, revealed in the course of the trial, which started in October 2023 and concluded in March 2024, that her agency had been contacted by individuals whose kinfolk had taken their very own lives after the affected person data had been revealed on-line, the BBC reported.
His trial concluded an 11-year cyber-crime spree
Picture credit: True Crime Suomi
About 20 individuals paid earlier than the victims realized it was already too late, as per the BBC. Their info was already revealed the day earlier than when ransom_man by chance leaked the complete database to a discussion board on the darknet.
Mikko Hyppönen and his group at Finnish cyber-security agency WithSecure assisted in monitoring the hack, resulting in the identification of Kivimäki, often known as Zeekill.
Regardless of earlier run-ins with the legislation, together with a suspended prison sentence for quite a few hacking offenses, Kivimäki continued his cyber exploits, gaining notoriety for orchestrating large-scale assaults, similar to bringing down PlayStation Community and Xbox Stay.
Zeekill managed to evade the authorities till his connection to the Vastaamo psychotherapy assault got here to mild.
@dylan.pageNah finland is a wild nation for this😳♬ original sound – Dylan Page
It took Finnish police almost two years to assemble proof to subject an Interpol Pink Discover for him, making him one in all Europe’s most wished criminals. Nonetheless, his whereabouts remained unknown.
The malefactor was reportedly tracked down by mistake final February when police in Paris, France, went to his condo after getting a false home disturbance name.
They discovered Kivimäki had been dwelling with solid id paperwork below a faux identify, the BBC reported.
He was subsequently extradited to Finland, the place authorities equipped for one of the crucial distinguished trials within the Nordic nation’s historical past.
Kivimäki was discovered responsible of greater than 9,200 counts of disseminating info infringing individuals’s personal lives
Final week, the Western Uusimaa District Court docket sentenced Kivimäki to 6 years and three months in jail.
Nonetheless, Finnish media on Might 2 stated that the digital offender was prone to be out of jail by April 2026, as he’s thought of a first-time offender below Finnish legislation, although he does have a earlier conviction for fraud.
Furthermore, on Might 3, Finnish Broadcaster Yle reported that Kivimäki indicated his intention to enchantment his jail sentence.
The cyber delinquent’s lawyer, Peter Jaari, instructed Finnish information company STT of his shopper’s plan to take the case to the Court docket of Attraction.
Jaari knowledgeable reporters within the fast aftermath of final week’s verdict that his shopper was disenchanted with the ruling and would very doubtless enchantment.
Kivimäki nonetheless denies any wrongdoing, Jaari stated on the time.
Individuals had divided opinions concerning the case
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