{"id":21605,"date":"2026-01-17T10:37:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/17\/he-called-himself-an-untouchable-hacker-god-but-who-was-behind-the-biggest-crime-finland-has-ever-known\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T10:37:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:37:29","slug":"he-called-himself-an-untouchable-hacker-god-but-who-was-behind-the-biggest-crime-finland-has-ever-known","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/17\/he-called-himself-an-untouchable-hacker-god-but-who-was-behind-the-biggest-crime-finland-has-ever-known\/","title":{"rendered":"He called himself an \u2018untouchable hacker god\u2019. But who was behind the biggest crime Finland has ever known?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How would you feel if your therapist\u2019s notes \u2013 your darkest thoughts and deepest feelings \u2013 were exposed to the world? For 33,000 Finnish people, that became a terrifying reality, with deadly consequences<\/p>\n

Tiina Parikka was half-naked when she read the email. It was a Saturday in late October 2020, and Parikka had spent the morning sorting out plans for distance learning after a Covid outbreak at the school where she was headteacher. She had taken a sauna at her flat in Vantaa, just outside Finland\u2019s capital, Helsinki, and when she came into her bedroom to get dressed, she idly checked her phone. There was a message that began with Parikka\u2019s name and her social security number \u2013 the unique code used to identify Finnish people when they access healthcare, education and banking. \u201cI knew then that this is not a game,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The email was in Finnish. It was jarringly polite. \u201cWe are contacting you because you have used Vastaamo\u2019s therapy and\/or psychiatric services,\u201d it read. \u201cUnfortunately, we have to ask you to pay to keep your personal information safe.\u201d The sender demanded \u20ac200 in bitcoin within 24 hours, otherwise the price would go up to \u20ac500 within 48 hours. \u201cIf we still do not receive our money after this, your information will be published for everyone to see, including your name, address, phone number, social security number and detailed records containing transcripts of your conversations with Vastaamo\u2019s therapists or psychiatrists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading…<\/a>
\nHow would you feel if your therapist\u2019s notes \u2013 your darkest thoughts and deepest feelings \u2013 were exposed to the world? For 33,000 Finnish people, that became a terrifying reality, with deadly consequences
\nTiina Parikka was half-naked when she read the email. It was a Saturday in late October 2020, and Parikka had spent the morning sorting out plans for distance learning after a Covid outbreak at the school where she was headteacher. She had taken a sauna at her flat in Vantaa, just outside Finland\u2019s capital, Helsinki, and when she came into her bedroom to get dressed, she idly checked her phone. There was a message that began with Parikka\u2019s name and her social security number \u2013 the unique code used to identify Finnish people when they access healthcare, education and banking. \u201cI knew then that this is not a game,\u201d she says.
\nThe email was in Finnish. It was jarringly polite. \u201cWe are contacting you because you have used Vastaamo\u2019s therapy and\/or psychiatric services,\u201d it read. \u201cUnfortunately, we have to ask you to pay to keep your personal information safe.\u201d The sender demanded \u20ac200 in bitcoin within 24 hours, otherwise the price would go up to \u20ac500 within 48 hours. \u201cIf we still do not receive our money after this, your information will be published for everyone to see, including your name, address, phone number, social security number and detailed records containing transcripts of your conversations with Vastaamo\u2019s therapists or psychiatrists.\u201d Continue reading…Technology | The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How would you feel if your therapist\u2019s notes \u2013 your darkest thoughts and deepest feelings \u2013 were exposed to the world? For 33,000 Finnish people, that became a terrifying reality, with deadly consequences Tiina Parikka was half-naked when she read the email. It was a Saturday in late October 2020, and Parikka had spent the …<\/p>\n

He called himself an \u2018untouchable hacker god\u2019. But who was behind the biggest crime Finland has ever known?<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":21606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21605"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}