Supo investigator’s security lapses exposed intelligence to Russia

Security weaknesses in the handling of sensitive intelligence at Finland’s Security and Intelligence Service, known as Supo, allowed information about its sources to be exposed, according to an investigation reported by Yle. A former Supo investigator, Juhani Hakala, continued working for the service after retiring and sent source reports over ordinary email, while keeping login details on a note beside his computer.

Hakala retired in 2012 but continued meeting sources and reporting to Supo until 2024, according to the preliminary investigation by Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation. He used an email address that could be linked to his name and accessed it on a computer with only his wife’s user profile. The email username and password were written on a piece of paper next to the computer.

Police said Hakala’s wife had unsupervised access to the account, which contained reports related to source operations. She had also sent screenshots of suspicious login attempts to the email account, according to the investigation record.

A search of Hakala’s home found Supo documents kept openly, including questions for sources and accounts of what they had told him. His wife could also access those papers. Hakala handled source-related work through his personal phone as well, police said. Investigators said the security shortcomings put both the sources and potentially Hakala at risk.

Hackers eventually gained access to Hakala’s email, and information reached a foreign state that Yle identified as Russia. Investigators could not establish when the account was first breached, but concluded that the attacker had known its password.

Hakala denied wrongdoing during questioning, saying Supo had given him little guidance on information security. He is charged with negligent disclosure of a security secret. The Helsinki District Court began hearing criminal charges related to Supo’s intelligence work on November 6, 2026. Former senior officials, including former chief Antti Pelttari, are also charged with disclosing security secrets and official offences. Prosecutors allege that the work did not comply with the law.