A data leak has been discovered in the Prime Minister's office. The emails of ex-PM Katainen, his aide and the State Secretary were accessed and attempts were made to distribute them to the media.
"We're also dealing with a few other high-ranking officials' emails ending up in the wrong hands," says Markku Mantila, chief of communications at the Prime Minister's office.
He says the leak suspicion didn't come to the office's attention until last Friday.
"That's when we realised that the emails had been offered to be given to representatives of the media," Mantila says. "We know now that at least one media source has expressed interest in the information."
The Prime Minister's office announced on Tuesday that confidential administrative emails had been stolen.
Russian sanctions data sought
The parties behind the hack were attempting to access information concerning new EU sanctions against Russia, Mantila confirms. He said he was unable to comment on the exact significance of the leaked information.
Finnish authorities are said to be investigating a number of personal computers, but Mantila did not want to divulge who the computers belong to.
"The owners themselves have requested that their computers be sweeped, along with their mobile devices, to rule out any foul play," he said.
Mantila was also mum on which authority or organisation is investigating the data leak.
Leak concerns previous government
The information in the swiped emails concerns the government of Jyrki Katainen, not the incumbent Stubb. The party to have accessed the messages is Finnish, according to the PM's office's security chief Marko Lavikkala.
Edit: Communications chief Mantila amended his statement, saying the information was not attempted to be sold, but to be offered for publication.
_Update: Clarified to show that the leak occurred _during PM Katainen's government.