Helsinki - Xinhua
A data leak was uncovered in Finland Saturday, in which personal details of around 16,000 people were uploaded onto a file-sharing website, according to Finnish media report on Monday. This act of sabotage is the largest ever of its kind in Finland. The data leak is being looked into by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation. Anonymous Finland claimed on Monday responsibility for the publication of personal details of thousands of Finns. The group temporarily published a sample of information on 16,000 people as proof of the hack. The hack was motivated by an apparent desire to shame the Finnish government into improving data security. Finnish National Bureau of Investigation has not confirmed the claims that a loose group of hackers known as Anonymous was behind the data leak. The list that was put on the Internet contains the names, full social security numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, street addresses, and email addresses of the victims. Several upper secondary vocational education institutions are on the list, and some civil servants and students of the Police College of Finland are mentioned by name. Finnish police have confirmed that the names of some Finnish Defense Forces staff are on the list. Finnish Defense Forces found out that fewer than 10 of its employees are included, and has informed these people. The military said the leak did not pose a security threat.