Vastaamo, a private psychotherapy provider with centres across Finland, said on 21 October 2020 that its patient database had been hacked and that the thief was trying to extort money. The company said the data was taken in November 2018, with a further possible breach in March 2019. After the company refused a ransom of 40 bitcoin, patients received emails demanding 200 euros in bitcoin to stop their therapy notes being published, and about 300 records were posted online. In April 2024 a Finnish court convicted Aleksanteri Kivimäki and jailed him for 6 years and 3 months. Prosecutors said the database held data on about 33,000 people.
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Vastaamo Incident · 21 October 2020Therapy notes stolen and used to blackmail patients one by one
33,000 people in the database, per prosecutors
affected · Patient records database
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