Europe’s Most Wanted Teenage Hacker Arrested


Julius “Zeekill” Kivimäki, once Europe’s most wanted teenage hacker, has been arrested.

Kivimäki, known for his involvement with the notorious Lizard Squad, was apprehended after a series of cybercrimes that shocked the continent.

A Decade of Cyber Terror

Julius Kivimäki’s cybercrime career began in his early teens and quickly escalated to high-profile attacks.

As a member of Lizard Squad, Kivimäki was involved in various disruptive activities, including the infamous Christmas attacks on Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live in 2014.

According to a BBC report, these attacks left millions of gamers unable to access their services during the holiday season.

Document

Integrate ANY.RUN in Your Company for Effective Malware Analysis

Are you from SOC, Threat Research, or DFIR departments? If so, you can join an online community of 400,000 independent security researchers:

  • Real-time Detection
  • Interactive Malware Analysis
  • Easy to Learn by New Security Team members
  • Get detailed reports with maximum data
  • Set Up Virtual Machine in Linux & all Windows OS Versions
  • Interact with Malware Safely

If you want to test all these features now with completely free access to the sandbox:

Despite being convicted of over 50,000 hacking offenses at the age of 17, Kivimäki received a controversially lenient sentence — a two-year suspended prison term.

This decision was met with widespread criticism, particularly from those within the cybersecurity community who feared it would not deter further criminal activity.

The Vastaamo Data Breach: A New Low

Kivimäki’s most disturbing act came with the hack of Vastaamo, a Finnish psychotherapy center, where he stole sensitive patient data.

              Tiina Parikka is one of the victims of the mass hack of Vastaamo

In 2020, he attempted to extort the center and thousands of its patients by threatening to release their therapy session notes.

This attack not only risked the privacy of approximately 33,000 individuals but also led to reports of affected patients suffering extreme distress, with some even taking their own lives.

The breach was a national scandal in Finland, described as a disaster for the country’s trust in digital security.

The Finnish police, with international cooperation, intensified their efforts to capture Kivimäki, leading to his arrest in Paris under a false identity.

He was extradited to Finland, facing one of history’s largest trials.

On-Demand Webinar to Secure the Top 3 SME Attack Vectors: Watch for Free.

                     Kivimäki's trial in Helsinki was one of the biggest in the country's history
                     Kivimäki’s trial in Helsinki was one of the biggest in the country’s history

In court, Kivimäki faced charges for over 30,000 crimes, including aggravated data breach and multiple counts of attempted aggravated blackmail.

He was ultimately sentenced to six years and three months in prison, although he is expected to serve only half of this due to time already served and the Finnish justice system’s regulations.

He has prompted calls for changes in Finnish law to better handle such large-scale data breaches in the future.

Meanwhile, the victims continue to deal with the fallout, with many seeking compensation for the immense personal and psychological damage inflicted.

Is Your Network Under Attack? - Read CISO’s Guide to Avoiding the Next Breach - Download Free Guide



Source link