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They all told the therapist. The hackers leaked everything

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The next morning, Jere checked on Twitter where she was scared and calm to learn that they had received the same thousands of other threats. “If I were one of the only people to receive the mail, I would be more scared,” he says.

Vastaamo ran Finland’s largest network of private mental health providers. In a country of less than $ 5.5 million — similar to the state of Minneapolis — it was the McDonald’s of psychotherapy, a Finnish journalist told me. And because of this, the attack on the company shook all of Finland. About 30,000 people have received a rescue request; About 25,000 reported to police. October 29, title Helsinki Times read: “Vastaamo Hacking could become the biggest criminal case in Finnish history.” That prediction seems to have come true.

Bada scale of attack it was shocking, as well as his cruelty. Not only because the records were very sensitive; not only because the attacker or assailants perceived the patient as an injured animal; but also because Finland should be among those on earth to be among those capable of preventing such a violation. Along with neighboring Estonia, it is considered a pioneer in digital health. Since the late 1990s, Finnish leaders have followed the principle of “citizen-centered and comprehensive” attention, backed by investments in technological infrastructure. Today, all Finnish citizens have access to a very secure service called Kanta, where they can browse treatment records and request prescriptions. Their healthcare providers can use the system to coordinate care.

Vastaamo was a private company, but the technology seemed to work with the same spirit of ease and accessibility: you booked with a few clicks to a therapist, waits were acceptable, and the Finnish Social Security Organization refunded a large portion of the session fee. (if you have been diagnosed with a mental disorder). The company was run by Ville Tapio, a 39-year-old coder and activist with sharp eyebrows, brown hair on his back and a heavy jaw. He co-founded the company with his parents. Vastaamo was raised as a humble family business committed to improving the mental health of all Finns.

For almost a decade, the company was a resounding success. Of course, some questioned the purity of Tapio’s motives; Kristian Wahlbeck, Finland’s oldest nonprofit mental health development director, says she was “a little misunderstood” and “perceived to be over-business”. And yes, there were occasionally doing shadowy things about Vastaamo, such as Google ads trying to hunt down potential patients in a university clinic, like newspapers. Evening paper reported. But people kept signing up. Tapio was so confident with what he had created that he talked about taking his model abroad.

Tapio says that before the “event”, “Vastaamo created a lot of good societies.” He is now a former CEO, and the company he founded is selling parts. “I am very sad to see all the work that has been done and the opportunities for the future being wasted,” he says. “The way it ends is horrible, unnecessary and unjustified.”

Tapio grew up In a “peaceful and green” neighborhood in northern Helsinki in a bad recession. Her mother, Nina, was a trauma psychotherapist, and her father, Perttu, was a priest. He was given a Commodore 64 that his grandparents used when he was 10 years old, which sparked his interest in coding. Something in his brain matched his logical challenge, he says. He also saw it as a “tool to build something real”.

The obsession persisted: in high school, Tapio coded his basketball team’s statistical system and taught teachers who worked at the Helsinki Department of Education at the institute how to use computers. Instead of going to university, he set up an online store that sells computer parts — his first business, funded with “a few tens of euros,” he says. A couple of years later, at the age of 20, he joined a small management consultancy.

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