Nokia blackmailed for millions of Euros

Finnish phone giant Nokia paid several million Euros to online hackers eight years ago.

The blackmailers threatened to release the source code behind the Symbian mobile operating system, which was used to prevent external applications from being accepted by phones without Nokia’s approval.

At the time of the incident, Nokia had around 50 per cent of the market share, but that has declined sharply in the last seven years.

The telecommunications firm contacted the police before delivering the cash to a car park in Tampere, central Finland, but police lost track of the criminals.

In 2013, the phone company announced that it had shipped its final handset running the Symbian operating system. Nokia phones now run mostly on the Windows Phone platform.

Finnish police confirmed the case is still open. “We are investigating felony blackmail, with Nokia the injured party,” according to Detective Chief inspector Tero Haapala of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation.