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Intrigue

Next On Intrigue: Ransom Man. What would you do if your deepest secrets were held to ransom? Jenny Kleeman investigates one of the world's most audacious hacks. When a shocking data breach takes place at a Finnish psychotherapy service, the nation’s darkest secrets are held to ransom by a faceless hacker. He calls himself ransom_man. Award-winning journalist Jenny Kleeman (BBC Radio 4’s The Gift) traces the story from the first extortion email to the hunt to find the hacker and bring him to justice. We all have some thoughts we’d never write down. Now, just imagine that a criminal had got hold of those thoughts, and was threatening to publish them for all the world to see if you didn’t pay to stop him. Jenny finds out what kind of person is prepared to terrorise a nation like this, and the lengths people will go to fight back. On the way, she’ll discover that the origins of this dark crime stretch far beyond Finland. Her extraordinary quest leads her around the world and to unexpected places, bringing Jenny face to face with victims, investigators, police and notorious hackers themselves. It is a cautionary tale about something that could happen anywhere, to any of us, again and again. Jenny will learn just how vulnerable our deepest secrets can be – and the enormous power that hackers now have to hold our inner lives to ransom. Intrigue: 'Jaw-dropping', 'gripping', 'bingeable,' 'thrilling' - dramatic true stories and investigations that reveal how the world really works.

  1. 17 FEB • SUBSCRIBER EARLY ACCESS

    5. 635 Years of Suffering

    Within a month of the Vastaamo data breach, Tomi Haustola, a Finnish stand up comedian, is on stage making jokes about it. But Tomi himself is one of the thousands of victims. He tells Jenny how he went to Vastaamo because he was burnout and anxious and couldn’t tell anyone - except his therapist. When he discovers a hacker had stolen his therapy notes, Tomi decides to share it with his audience. Many of them are victims themselves. But he doesn’t expect a letter to arrive for him, years after the hack, inviting him to view the trial of Julius Kivimäki, the man authorities suspected of being the extortionist ransom_man. Kivimäki’s trial is to be broadcast in cinemas around the country. Bringing the case against him is the Prosecutor Pasi Vainio. Kivimäki is defended by the lawyer who has been with him since the beginning - Peter Jaari. Also present is Jenni Raiskio, the lawyer representing victims of the hack, making sure they are not forgotten amidst the TV cameras and photographers. As Jenny follows the unfolding of the court case and the trial nears its conclusion, something happens that puts everything in jeopardy. 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 BBC Studios Production Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams Commissioner: Dan Clarke

    28 min

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Next On Intrigue: Ransom Man. What would you do if your deepest secrets were held to ransom? Jenny Kleeman investigates one of the world's most audacious hacks. When a shocking data breach takes place at a Finnish psychotherapy service, the nation’s darkest secrets are held to ransom by a faceless hacker. He calls himself ransom_man. Award-winning journalist Jenny Kleeman (BBC Radio 4’s The Gift) traces the story from the first extortion email to the hunt to find the hacker and bring him to justice. We all have some thoughts we’d never write down. Now, just imagine that a criminal had got hold of those thoughts, and was threatening to publish them for all the world to see if you didn’t pay to stop him. Jenny finds out what kind of person is prepared to terrorise a nation like this, and the lengths people will go to fight back. On the way, she’ll discover that the origins of this dark crime stretch far beyond Finland. Her extraordinary quest leads her around the world and to unexpected places, bringing Jenny face to face with victims, investigators, police and notorious hackers themselves. It is a cautionary tale about something that could happen anywhere, to any of us, again and again. Jenny will learn just how vulnerable our deepest secrets can be – and the enormous power that hackers now have to hold our inner lives to ransom. Intrigue: 'Jaw-dropping', 'gripping', 'bingeable,' 'thrilling' - dramatic true stories and investigations that reveal how the world really works.

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