From teenage cyber-thug wey blackmail 33,000 therapy patients to Europe most wanted

One notorious hacker wey be one of Europe most wanted criminals don land for jail for blackmailing 33,000 therapy patients wit dia session notes wey im tiff.

Julius Kivimäki imprisonment don end one 11-year cyber-crime wey start wen im bin rise to prominence for one network of teenage hacking gangs wey no get rules at di age of 13.

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Tiina bin dey cool off afta di customary Finnish Saturday night sauna wen her phone ping.

Na email from one anonymous sender wey know her name somehow, social security number and oda private details.

“At first I notice by how polite e be and how nice di tone be,” she remember.

“Dear Mrs Parikka” di sender write, bifor im tok say dem get her private information from a psychotherapy centre wia she bin be dia patient.

Almost wit apology, di emailer explain say dem dey contact her directly becos di company bin dey ignore di fact say dem don tiff her personal data.

Two years of important records wey her therapist take during dozens of intimate sessions dey for dis unknown blackmailer hand.

If she no pay ransom within 24 hours dem go publish evritin online.

“Di feeling bin dey like say I dey suffocate ,” she tok. “I sit down dia wit my robe and I bin dey feel like say sombodi don invade my private world and dey try to make moni wit my life trauma.”

Tiina realise sharp sharp say no be only her e happun to.

Dem also tiff a total of 33,000 oda therapy patients records and dem also blackmail thousands for wetin be di largest number of victims for one criminal case for Finland.

Di database wey dem tiff from Vastaamo psychotherapy contain di deepest secrets of plenti pipo for society including children.

Sensitive conversations on subjects from extra-marital affairs to confessions of crimes dey for di chip wey dem dey bargain for.

Mikko Hyppönen, from Finnish cyber-security firm WithSecure, wey research di attack, tok say di event cause shockwaves for di kontri and lead news bulletins for days. “A hack of dis scale na disaster for Finland - evribodi bin know pesin wey dey affected," im tok.

All dis bin happun for 2020 during di pandemic lockdowns and di case shock di cyber-security world.

Di impact of di emails bin dey immediate and devastating. Lawyer Jenni Raiskio wey represent 2,600 of di victims and, for di trial, say pipo wey dia relatives bin kill diasef afta di hackers bin publish di patient records online contact her firm, and she do a moment of silence for court for di victims.

Di blackmailer, wey dem only sabi as ransom_man by im sign-off online, ask di victims to pay am €200 (£171) within 24 hours if not, im go publish dia information. If dem no meet up wit di deadline im go increase am to €500.

About 20 pipo bin pay bifor di victims realise say e don dey too late already.

Dem don already publish dia information di day bifor di ransom_man accidentally leak di entire database to one forum for di darknet.

Evritin still dey dia today.

Mikko and im team spend time to track di hack and try to help police, and theories start to come out say di hacker likely come from Finland.

One of di largest police investigations for di kontri history close in on one young Finn wey bin already dey infamous for di cyber-crime world.

Zeekill crime spree

Kivimäki, wey call imsef Zeekill as a teenage hacker, no become di notorious figure wey im be sake of say im dey careful.

As a teenager, na so so hacking, extorting and loud bragging na im e dey do. Wit oda hacker teams Lizard Squad and Hack di Planet, im dey happy about di kasala im dey cause for di teen hacking period of di 2010s wey bin dey active well well.

Kivimäki na one of di key players, im dey carry out dozens of high-profile attacks until im reach17 years, dem bin arrest am for 2014 and dem find am guilty of 50,700 hacking offences.

Controversially dem bin no jail am. Many pipo for cyber-security for di world bin criticise im two-year prison sentence wey dem bin suspend.

Even for Finland wey dey famous for lenient sentences, dem bin dey fear say Kivimäki and im accomplices - wey be mostly teenagers wey dey plenti for English-speaking world - no go change dia mind.

Like many of im age mates during di time wey di kasala dey hot, Kivimäki no allow run-ins to stop am.

Afta im arrest, and bifor dem sentence am, im carry out one of di most audacious attacks wey any teenage hacking gang don do.

Im and Lizard Squad bin take di two largest gaming platforms offline on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Playstation Network and Xbox Live bin go down afta dem hit di services wit unsophisticated but powerful technique wey dem know as Distributed Denial of Service attack.

Tens of millions of gamers no fit download games, register new consoles or play wit dia friends online.

Kivimäki bin dey enjoy di attention of di media around di world, im even accept one TV interview wit me for Sky News, wia im no show any remorse for di attack.

Anoda hacker from Zeekill Lizard Squad gang tell di BBC say Kivimaki na vindictive teen wey like to get revenge on rivals and show off im skills online.

"Im bin dey veri good at wetin im do and e bin no care about di consequences. E go always go further dan odas in attacks.

"Despite di attention wey bin dey on am, im go make bomb threats and serious prank calls by imsef, im no dey even change im voice," Ryan tok.

Im bin no wan tok im surname as im still dey unknown to authorities.

Apart from say im dey linked to some few small-scale hacks afta dem sentence am, Kivimäki go silent for years until im name bin dey linked to di Vastaamo psychotherapy attack.

Dem issue Red Notice

E bin take Finnish police nearly two years to gada evidence to give Interpol Red Notice for am, and im become one of di most wanted criminals for Europe.

But nobodi bin know wia di hacker wey dey 25 years old now bin dey.

Dem track am down by mistake last February wen police for Paris bin go im apartment afta dem get one fake domestic disturbance call.

Dem find out say Kivimäki bin don dey live wit identity documents wey im forge under one fake name.

Dem extradite (send am legally) to Finland sharp sharp wia police start to prepare for one of di most high-profile trials for di kontri history.

Det Ch Supt Marko Leponen lead di three-year case and im tok say na di biggest of im career. “We bin get more dan 200 officers ontop dis case at one point and na intense investigation wit so many victim statements and stories to read and chook eye well well.”

Kivimäki trial na one major story for di kontri wit reporters for dia evriday and international media sef dey present wen im bin take stand for court.

I bin dey court for di first day of im evidence and im maintain calmly say im dey innocent and wit occasional jokes im tell di quiet courtroom.

But di evidence wey dem get against am plenti well well.

Det Leponen tok say linking Kivimäki bank account to di server wey dem use download di data wey dem tiff bin dey veri important.

Im officers also use new forensics techniques to collect Kivimäki fingerprint from anonymous picture wey im post under one fake name online

“We bin dey able to prove say dis anonymous pesin wey dey post for di forum na Kivimäki. E bin dey unbelievable but e show say you need to use evri measure wey you sabi and try di ones wey you no sabi too” Det Leponen tok.

For di end, di judges deliver dia verdict wey find am guilty of all counts.

According to di court, Kivimäki bin dey guilty of more dan 30,000 crimes - one for each victim.

Dem bin charge am wit aggravated data breach, attempted aggravated blackmail, 9,231 aggravated dissemination of information infringing private life, 20,745 attempted aggravated blackmail and 20 aggravated blackmail.

Im chop six years and three months in prison sentence out of a maximum seven years, but im fit serve only half sake of time wey im don already serve for di Finnish justice system.

For victims like Tiina, dis sentence no long reach.

“Plenti pipo bin dey affected by wetin im do in so many ways - 33,000 pipo na plenti victims and e affect our health, and dem also target some wit financial scams, dem also use di data wey dem tiff too.” Meanwhile she and di oda victims dey wait to see if dem go get any compensation from di case.