What if your deepest secrets were held to ransom?

Author and presenter Jenny Kleeman explores the shocking true story of thousands of private therapy notes being leaked online in a new podcast series for BBC Radio 4.

In Ransom Man, a new series from Intrigue, Radio 4’s investigative feed, Kleeman – author, Orwell prize-winning journalist, and acclaimed broadcaster of Radio 4’s The Gift – unravels the extraordinary true story of Finnish hacker Julius Kivimäki, who hacked and held to ransom psychotherapy notes of over 33,000 patients, and operated under the alias of ransom_man.

Through gripping firsthand testimony, meticulous investigation, and unprecedented access – including a rare prison interview with convicted hacker, Kivimäki, Kleeman traces the crime from the first chilling emails to the international manhunt, courtroom drama, and the unanswered questions that remain. Blending Nordic noir with a stark exploration of privacy in the digital age, the series exposes what happens when the deepest corners of our inner lives fall into the wrong hands…

Kleeman, says of the series: “ransom_man is a hacker without boundaries – and this story is so much bigger than Finland. In a world where so much of our most intimate data is stored digitally, it’s a cautionary tale for anyone who has ever typed anything into a computer or phone.”

The series follows the story of Meri-Tuuli Auer, one of the victims who received ransom emails threatening to publish her most intimate therapy notes unless she paid in bitcoin. The hack sparked a national scandal, prompting Finland’s Prime Minister at the time, Sanna Marin, to convene an emergency meeting. [ more… ]

Kleeman recently joined our host, Charlie Osborne, on the Cybercrime Magazine Podcast for a riveting discussion about Kivimäki and the Ransom Man podcast series.

Listen to the Podcast Episode