Last week, a substantial data breach occurred at the State Information and Communication Technology Centre (Valtori), which is currently under investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation as a serious breach of data security. This incident has exposed sensitive information from prosecutors and various ministries, putting numerous officials at risk. Hannu Naumanen, head of ICT service support at Valtori, emphasized that having personal names and contact information compromised creates a severe security threat if it falls into the wrong hands.

According to Naumanen, while the information of officials is generally public, the aggregation of such data poses a unique danger, particularly in the context of malicious actors who might exploit it. Despite the breach not affecting emails, images, or other contents stored on mobile devices, the risk is considered significant due to the detailed and precise nature of the compromised data. Naumanen noted that this type of database is not available in the public domain, heightening the severity of the situation.

As a result of the breach, authorities may need to take measures such as changing the phone numbers of affected individuals to bolster their security and mitigate potential threats. This incident underlines the importance of data protection and the need for stringent measures to prevent such breaches in the future, highlighting the vulnerabilities faced by public officials in the digital age.