Major Helsinki cyberattack targeted tens of thousands

Helsinki: Hackers may have accessed the personal data of up to 80,000 students, their guardians and 40,000 city employees in an attack on the city of...

Helsinki: Hackers may have accessed the personal data of up to 80,000 students, their guardians and 40,000 city employees in an attack on the city of Helsinki, Finnish cyber authorities told AFP on Tuesday.

A data network used by the city's Education Division -- which oversees Helsinki's early childhood to upper secondary education -- was targeted in an extensive cyberattack on April 30, Jussi Eronen of the Cyber Security Centre told AFP.

"This is one of the largest cyberattacks that has occurred against Finnish municipalities," Eronen said, adding that the Cyber Security Centre was offering assistance to the affected parties.

By exploiting a vulnerability in the server connected to the network, the perpetrator gained access to user names, email addresses and personal ID numbers of pupils, their guardians and staff in the city's schools.

The perpetrator also accessed user names and email addresses of all city personnel, the city of Helsinki said in a statement on Monday.