Aleksanteri Kivimäki has indicated his intention to appeal the prison sentence he received on Tuesday for hacking into psychotherapy centre Vastaamo's patient database and using the information to extort money from the company and its clients.
Kivimäki's lawyer Peter Jaari told Finnish news agency STT of his client's plan to take the case to the Court of Appeal.
Jaari had told reporters in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's verdict that his client was disappointed with the ruling and would very likely appeal. Kivimäki still denies any wrongdoing, Jaari said at the time.
Western Uusimaa district court handed down the 6 year 3 month sentence in a case that made Finnish legal history, as it had the highest number of victims ever in a criminal trial.
Kivimäki was found guilty of an array of charges, including aggravated data breach, almost 9,600 counts of aggravated invasion of privacy related to the dissemination of information, more than 21,300 counts of attempted aggravated extortion, and 20 counts of aggravated blackmail.
During the trial, the court heard how the 26-year-old Kivimäki hacked into the firm's database, containing the personal information of an estimated 33,000 people, in autumn 2018.
He then attempted to extort money from both the company and its clients about two years later, threatening to spread the sensitive patient data on the dark web if they did not pay up.
Despite receiving a six-year sentence, Finnish media reported on Thursday that Kivimäki is likely to be out of jail by April 2026, as he is considered a first-time offender under Finnish law, even though he does have a previous conviction for fraud.
