Finland Prepares For Bitcoin Ransomware Attack With Cyber Fire Drill

The Finnish Population Register Centre is coordinating a simulated ransomware cyberattack on more than 200 Finnish cities and public organizations.

On Nov. 22, Finnish news outlet Yle reported that participating cities and organizations are rehearsing how to respond when a group of hackers demands the participants pay ransomware during a series of simulated cyberattacks.

As part of the operation, 235 public organizations were faced with an activist hacker group that threatened to carry out cyberattacks unless it was paid a ransom fee in Bitcoin (BTC) by a certain date.

According to the organizers, the aim of the exercise is to strengthen the cities’ and organizations’ abilities to handle a cyber attack more effectively. The Population Register Centre, which operates under the Ministry of Finance, already organized two such practice days, with the third scheduled for next week.

Crypto-ransomware is still the most prominent cyber attack

In October, the European Union Agency for Law…