The appeal trial for the Vastaamo psychotherapy center data breach case concluded today. Aleksanteri Kivimäki's defense presented its closing arguments in the Helsinki Court of Appeal. The court will now deliberate its verdict in one of Finland's most severe data privacy cases.
Kivimäki, 28, demands the dismissal of all charges against him. Prosecutors seek to increase his prison sentence to seven years, the maximum penalty for his alleged crimes.
Hackers breached Vastaamo's patient database system in November 2018. The intruders later blackmailed both the company and its clients. They published extremely sensitive patient information online.
Last year, the District Court of Western Uusimaa sentenced Kivimäki to six years and three months in prison. The conviction included aggravated data breach, attempted aggravated extortion, and over 9,200 counts of aggravated dissemination of private information.
The district court found that Kivimäki illegally accessed Vastaamo's systems and downloaded the patient database. He then published personal data of approximately 33,000 patients in three separate batches online.
This case highlights Finland's ongoing struggle with sophisticated cybercrime despite the country's advanced digital infrastructure. The extensive damage to thousands of patients' privacy shows how vulnerable personal health data remains to determined attackers.