Large-scale cyber crimes — in particular the hacking of people's sensitive personal information — have made repeated headlines in Finland during the first half of 2024.
"The more we collect data, the more headaches we have," notes Mikko Hyppönen, a specialist with Finnish cyber security firm WithSecure.
"Data is valuable. That's why we collect it. But we have to be capable of storing it safely, in some cases for decades, even for 100 years."
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The trial of Aleksanteri Kivimäki for hacking psychotherapy centre Vastaamo's patient database made Finnish legal history for the largest number of victims in a criminal proceeding.
That case was followed by reports of a data breach at the City of Helsinki's education unit affecting an estimated 150,000 children and their guardians, as well as the hacking of Traficom's vehicle registration system, with the theft of around 65,000 vehicle owners' details.
With data breaches still a relatively new phenomenon — and Finnish police struggling to keep pace with the hackers — the show also hears from Vastaamo trial lawyer Jenni Raiskio about the real-life consequences the crimes can have.
"Some people had very severe reactions. They weren't able to go to work, for example. Some are still unable to work. And we heard from families that some of them ended up committing suicide," Raiskio tells APN.
This week's show also wraps up all the main news from Finland, including reports of Russian plans to shift maritime borders in the Baltic Sea, the Finnish government's drafting of a new deportation law, and school lunches during summer in the west coast city of Jakobstad.
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This week's show was presented by Ronan Browne and Miyuki Jokiranta. The sound engineer was Matias Puumala.
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