麻豆社

A shocking data breach at a Finnish psychotherapy service. Jenny Kleeman traces the story of a nation鈥檚 secrets held to ransom by a faceless hacker.

We all have some thoughts we鈥檇 never write down. Now, just imagine that someone had got hold of those thoughts, and was threatening to publish them for all the world to see if you didn鈥檛 pay to stop them.

This is what happened to Tiina, a headteacher from Vantaa, Finland. When decades of stress and anxiety overwhelmed her, she sought support through a therapy service called Vastaamo.

Vastaamo was accessible, affordable, and a national success story. But in September 2020, the company received an email from a hacker claiming to have stolen their entire patient database - including therapy notes.

Antti Kurittu is the cybersecurity specialist tasked with saving the secrets of 33,000 patients, but will the extortionist negotiate, and can he be stopped before it鈥檚 too late?

The hacker would come to refer to himself as ransom_man. Before long, Antti, Tiina and a whole nation learn just how far he is willing to go.

Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman.
Producer: Sam Peach.
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt.
Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective: Neil Leiter, Margaret Hermant and Fabien Leseure.
A 麻豆社 Studios Production
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke