Police issue nationwide wanted notice for Vastaamo hacker Julius Kivimäki
Finnish police have issued a nationwide wanted notice for 28-year-old Julius Aleksanteri Kivimäki, who was convicted for his role in the 2018 Vastaamo psychotherapy centre data breach and subsequent extortion attempts. The notice follows the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday to deny Kivimäki leave to appeal his prison sentence, leaving the Helsinki Court of Appeal’s ruling in force.
Kivimäki is to be arrested on sight and taken to Vantaa Prison to serve his sentence of six years and 11 months. The Eastern Uusimaa Police issued the notice at the request of the Criminal Sanctions Agency, with Superintendent Mikko Minkkinen of the Helsinki Police confirming that officers will detain him if encountered. Minkkinen could not confirm whether an international wanted notice had also been issued (Yle).
The Helsinki Court of Appeal upheld Kivimäki’s convictions for aggravated data breach, attempted aggravated extortion, 20 counts of aggravated extortion, 9,231 counts of aggravated dissemination of information violating privacy, and 20,745 counts of attempted aggravated extortion. The court increased his original sentence—handed down by the district court in 2024—by eight months, citing the premeditated nature of the crimes and their impact on an exceptionally large and vulnerable group of victims. While the court acknowledged that the offences could have warranted the maximum sentence of seven years, it reduced the term slightly due to Kivimäki’s agreements to compensate numerous victims (Ilta-Sanomat).
The Vastaamo data breach is considered the largest criminal case in Finnish history by number of victims. In 2018, Kivimäki hacked into the psychotherapy provider’s database, obtaining the personal data of an estimated 33,000 patients. In 2020, he attempted to extort money from both the company and its clients, demanding payments in exchange for not releasing sensitive patient records (Yle).
Kivimäki’s lawyer, Peter Jaari, told both Yle and Ilta-Sanomat that he does not know his client’s exact whereabouts but believes he is abroad. Jaari confirmed that Kivimäki is not currently in prison, having been released in September 2025 after authorities determined that prolonged pre-trial detention could have entitled him to state compensation. Jaari stated that Kivimäki had already left Finland by late autumn (Ilta-Sanomat).
