The Finnish Population Register Centre is reportedly planning to organize a ransomware cyber-attack drill, across over 200 cities and establishments in the country. 

Reported by Yle on November 22, the cities and establishments involved in this drill will be practicing protocols, via numerous simulated cyberattacks, in order to prepare them for any ransom requests from hackers towards their citizens and members. 

As part of the project, 235 Finland-based organizations will face the threats made by an activist hacker team, demanding a certain amount of money by a determined time, in the form of Bitcoin (BTC), to prevent or halt their cyberattacks. 

This project was conducted with a specific goal to enhance the existing capability of organizations and cities, helping them resolving cyber-attack emergencies in a more efficient way. The Population Register Centre, a department under the management of the Ministry of Finance, has previously organized 2 drills before this one, and plan to set up the third one within next week. 

Previously, in October 2019, the Europol has publicly revealed its 2019 Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) report. The report has raised a serious issue, presenting crypto-related ransomware in the first spot, in the list of cyber attacks the EU cyber police have to handle. 

“Countering cybercrime is as much about its present forms as it is about future projections. New threats do not only arise from new technologies but, as is often demonstrated, come from known vulnerabilities in existing technologies.” Europol claimed.