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TuxCare BlogCity of Helsinki Data Breach: What You Need to Know
by Rohan Timalsina
May 27, 2024 - TuxCare expert team
On May 2, 2024, the City of Helsinki announced the data breach targeting its Education Division. However, the breach was discovered on April 30, 2024, and an investigation was promptly carried out. It was found that it has impacted tens of thousands of students, guardians, and personnel, causing considerable concern among the affected parties.
They revealed that an unauthorized actor had gained access to a network drive by exploiting a vulnerability in a remote access server. Although the specific remote access product targeted in the attack was not disclosed, officials confirmed that a security patch for the vulnerability was available at the time but had not been installed.
Scope of the Breach
The compromised network drive contained tens of millions of files. While many of these files did not include personally identifiable information (PII), some did contain sensitive data such as usernames, email addresses, personal IDs, and physical addresses. Additionally, the exposed data encompassed information about fees, childhood education and care, children’s status, welfare requests, medical certificates, and other highly sensitive information.
“This is a very serious data breach, with possible, unfortunate consequences for our customers and personnel. We regret this situation deeply,” said City Manager Jukka-Pekka Ujula.
Ongoing Investigation
Given the extensive use of the city’s educational services, it is estimated that the City of Helsinki data breach could potentially affect over 80,000 students and their guardians, both current and past users. Moreover, the breach impacts all personnel within the education division, as the perpetrator gained access to their usernames and email addresses.
The City of Helsinki has notified the Data Protection Ombudsman, the Police, and Traficom’s National Cyber Security Centre. Due to the substantial volume of data involved, the investigation to determine the full extent of the compromised information is expected to take some time.
Conclusion
As of now, no ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for the attack and the City of Helsinki is working diligently to enhance its security measures to prevent future incidents and mitigate the potential harm caused by this data breach.
The City of Helsinki’s education division data breach is a stark reminder of the importance of timely security updates and robust cybersecurity practices. The incident has exposed critical vulnerabilities and highlighted the need for continuous vigilance in protecting sensitive information.
Learn about the common reasons for delayed patching and how to avoid them.
The sources for this article include a story from BleepingComputer.
