Finland Trace Monero Transactions in Vastaamo Hack

Finland Authorities launched an investigation into the trial of Julius Aleksanteri who allegedly hacked a mental health company’s database.

During an investigation into the criminal trial of Julius Aleksanteri Kivimaki, the National Bureau of Investigation of Finland reportedly monitored transactions performed using the cryptocurrency Monero.

Kivimaki allegedly accessed the database of a private mental health company and demanded ransom payments in cryptocurrency, according to an accusation by the Finland authorities.

On the 22nd of January, the prosecution reportedly presented new evidence to the local media, demonstrating a crypto trail leading to Kivimaki’s bank account.

In October 2022, it was stated that the hacker requested forty bitcoins, equivalent to around four hundred and fifty thousand euros at the time, in exchange for not disclosing the records of more than thirty-three thousand patients from the psychotherapy service provider Vastaamo.

Once the ransom was not paid, Kivimaki proceeded to target specific patients. According to the Finland police, the hacker received payments in Bitcoin and then transferred the cash to an exchange that did not comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) rules.

The hacker then exchanged the Bitcoin for Monero and transferred it to a wallet specifically designed for Monero. Reports indicate that the monies were transferred to Binance, where they were once again converted into Bitcoin and then sent to various wallets.

As part of their commitment to protecting confidentiality, the Finland authorities have refrained from disclosing any additional information regarding their on-chain analysis. Monero is a cryptocurrency that has gained much attention due to its robust privacy features.

According to its official webpage, it claims to be “untraceable.” Technologies such as stealth addresses, ring signatures, and Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT) are among the privacy-enhancing technologies that it offers.

RINGCT mixes users’ transactions, concealing the true source of funds. Ring signatures, on the other hand, obscure the identity of the sender by presenting them as part of a group of possible senders.

It is challenging to correlate several transactions to the same receiver while using Monero since stealth addresses, which allow for generating a one-time address for each transaction are another critical characteristic of the cryptocurrency.

Eric Woerth, the leader of the Finance Committee of the French National Assembly, proposed outlawing anonymous cryptocurrencies, such as Monero, in March of 2019.

This was due to the fact that anonymous cryptocurrencies can entirely anonymize users, thereby avoiding any identification procedures. The authorities in the United States of America had also focused their attention on Monero.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offered a reward of up to $625,000 to individuals who successfully broke untraceable privacy coins in 2020.

According to findings from previous studies, blockchain analysis has the potential to track back transactions involving privacy coins, including activities that occurred before 2017.