Vastaamo

Vastaamo is a Finnish private psychotherapy clinic founded in 2008.[1] Finnish venture capital company Intera Partners bought a majority share of 71.25% of the company in 2018.[2]

On 21 October 2020, Vastaamo announced that its patient database had been stolen. The extorters demanded 40 bitcoins, roughly 450,000 euros, or threatened to publish the records. The extorters published hundred patient records a day on a Tor message board to add pressure for their demands. The leaked patient records contained patient's full names, home addresses, social security numbers, and the therapists' and doctors' notes from each session. After the extortation of the company failed, the extorters sent victims an email demanding them to pay 200 euros in 24 hours or 500 euros in 48 hours in order to avoid publishing their sensitive personal data.[3][4][5] The company's security practices were found to be inadequate: the sensitive data was not encrypted[6] and apparently the system root password was very weak.[7] The patient records were first accessed by intruders November 2018, while the security flaws continued to exist until March 2019.[5]

References
  1. "Psykoterapiakeskus Vastaamo Oy | Yrityksen tiedot". IS Taloussanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  2. Lehtonen, Marko-Oskari (2020-10-25). "Vastaamon perustajat saivat viime vuonna miljoonapotin – vuoden 2020 tärkeiden asioiden listalla oli "IT Kotipesä kuntoon"". Iltalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  3. "Psychotherapy centre's database hacked, patient info held ransom". Yle Uutiset. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  4. Kleinman, Zoe (2020-10-26). "Therapy patients blackmailed for cash after clinic data breach". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  5. Sipilä, Jarkko (2020-10-27). "Therapy patients in Finland blackmailed after data breach". CNN. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  6. "Tietoturva | Terapiapotilaisiin kohdistunut tietomurto on voinut vaarantaa tuhansien ihmisten tietosuojan, kyseessä on täysin "poikkeuksellinen tapahtuma"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  7. "Kiristäjä julkaisi suomalaisten arkaluontoisia terapiakeskusteluja – vaatii 450 000:ta euroa tai jatkoa seuraa". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
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