Kivimäki denies that he was the perpetrator and blackmailer of the data breach.
Foreign media also followed Aleksanteri Kivimäki’s hearing at the Vastaamo assembly. Henri Kärkkäinen
Aleksanteri Kivimäki (formerly Julius Kivimäki), accused of the Vastaamo data breach, will be heard today in the district court of Länsi-Uusimaa in Espoo.
Two days have been set aside for hearing Kivimäki. During that time, the prosecutor, Kivimäki’s assistant and other involved parties ask Kivimäki questions related to the charges.
Kivimäki is accused of more than 30,000 crimes. The crimes include aggravated data breach, aggravated blackmail, aggravated blackmail attempt and aggravated dissemination of information that violates private life. Kivimäki has denied all the charges.
The session starts at 9 o’clock. Iltalehti follows the progress of the session from the spot in the attached text tracking.
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The trial of the massive criminal case began in November. According to the prosecutor, Kivimäki blackmailed the patients of Vastaamo Psychotherapy Center by threatening to publish their confidential patient information if they did not pay him compensation. The information was later leaked to the Tor network.
Based on the preliminary investigation, the police was able to track down the suspect with the help of a so-called “digital fingerprint”. Kivimäki denies that he was the perpetrator and blackmailer of the data breach.
Aleksanteri Kivimäki sat in the courtroom looking serious. Henri Kärkkäinen
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Psychotherapy center Vastaamo’s patient data ended up in the hands of a hacker in November 2018.
In September-October 2020, money was successfully extorted from the victims. About 33,000 people’s information was leaked to the dark Tor network.
Aleksanteri Kivimäki is suspected of data breach and extortion. He was wanted and arrested in absentia on suspicion of crimes in October 2022. In February 2023, he was captured in France.
At first, the police had difficulty finding all the victims of data breach and extortion, but in August 2023, the police announced that they had succeeded in doing so thanks to an international request for legal assistance.
The prosecutor filed charges against Kivimäki in October 2023. The prosecutor demands a seven-year prison sentence for Kivimäki for aggravated data breach, attempted aggravated blackmail, 9,598 aggravated dissemination of information infringing private life, 21,316 aggravated blackmail attempt and 20 aggravated blackmail.
There are a total of 21,459 litigants, i.e. victims of acts according to the indictment, in the trial.
In April, Vastaamo’s CEO Ville Tapio was sentenced to a three-month suspended prison sentence for a data protection crime. The judgment is not legally binding, but has been appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Iltalehti exceptionally publishes the name of the accused before the district court’s decision based on the social significance of the Vastaamo data breach and the suspect’s serious criminal background.