Mikko Hyppönen
Encyclopedia
Mikko Hermanni Hyppönen (born 1969 in Finland
) is a computer security expert and columnist.
. He has worked with F-Secure in Finland since 1991.
Since the 1990s, Hyppönen has assisted law enforcement in the United States, Europe and Asia on cybercrime cases and advises governments on cyber crime. His team has been responsible for taking down the Sobig.F botnet.
Hyppönen has keynoted or spoken at various conferences around the world, including RSA
, Black Hat
and DEF CON
. In addition to data security events, Hyppönen has delivered talks at general-interest events, such as TED
, TEDx, SXSW and Google Zeitgeist. He's also spoken at various military events, including AFCEA events and the NATO CCD COE's ICCC. Hyppönen is a reserve officer in the Finnish Army.
Hyppönen has been a member of the Advisory board of IMPACT (International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats) since 2007 together with Yevgeny Kaspersky, Dr. Hamadoun Touré
, Professor Fred Piper and John Thompson
.
Hyppönen is a columnist for BetaNews. He has also written on his research for CNN
.
In 2011, he was ranked 61st in Foreign Policy
s Top 100 Global Thinkers report.
. Hyppönen produced a documentary of the event. The documentary is viewable on YouTube
.
Hyppönen has also been documenting the raise of mobile phone malware
since the first smartphone viruses
were found.
The blog
"News from the Lab", started by Hyppönen in 2004 was the first blog from any antivirus company.
followers were removed. This was because Hyppönen had posted a Tweet with a link to a phishing site. After several days, he regained access to his account. Despite these problems, Hypponen is credited by Twitter for improving Twitter's security.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
) is a computer security expert and columnist.
Career
Mikko Hyppönen is the Chief Research Officer for F-SecureF-Secure
F-Secure Corporation is an anti-virus and computer security software company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has 18 country offices and a presence in more than 100 countries, with Security Lab operations in Helsinki, Finland and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
. He has worked with F-Secure in Finland since 1991.
Since the 1990s, Hyppönen has assisted law enforcement in the United States, Europe and Asia on cybercrime cases and advises governments on cyber crime. His team has been responsible for taking down the Sobig.F botnet.
Hyppönen has keynoted or spoken at various conferences around the world, including RSA
RSA Conference
The RSA Conference is a cryptography and information security-related conference held annually in the San Francisco Bay Area.The RSA Conference started in 1991 as a forum for cryptographers to gather and share the latest knowledge and advancements in the area of Internet security...
, Black Hat
Black Hat Briefings
The Black Hat Conference is a computer security conference that brings together a variety of people interested in information security. Representatives of federal agencies and corporations attend along with hackers. The Briefings take place regularly in Las Vegas, Barcelona and Tokyo...
and DEF CON
DEF CON
DEF CON is one of the world's largest annual computer hacker conventions, held every year in Las Vegas, Nevada...
. In addition to data security events, Hyppönen has delivered talks at general-interest events, such as TED
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
, TEDx, SXSW and Google Zeitgeist. He's also spoken at various military events, including AFCEA events and the NATO CCD COE's ICCC. Hyppönen is a reserve officer in the Finnish Army.
Hyppönen has been a member of the Advisory board of IMPACT (International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats) since 2007 together with Yevgeny Kaspersky, Dr. Hamadoun Touré
Hamadoun Touré
Dr. Hamadoun Touré of Mali has been Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union , the specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to information and communication technologies , since 2007. He was re-elected for a second four-year term in 2010...
, Professor Fred Piper and John Thompson
John W. Thompson
John W. Thompson is a former vice-president at IBM and the former Chief Executive Officer of Symantec Corporation. He is presently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Symantec Corporation and CEO of Virtual Instruments...
.
Hyppönen is a columnist for BetaNews. He has also written on his research for CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.
In 2011, he was ranked 61st in Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
s Top 100 Global Thinkers report.
Computer security history
Hyppönen made international news in 2011 when he tracked down and visited the authors of the first PC virus in history, Brain.ABrain (computer virus)
Brain is the industry standard name for a computer virus that was released in its first form in January 1986, and is considered to be the first computer virus for MS-DOS...
. Hyppönen produced a documentary of the event. The documentary is viewable on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Hyppönen has also been documenting the raise of mobile phone malware
Mobile virus
A mobile virus is an electronic virus that targets mobile phones or wireless-enabled PDAs.As wireless phone and PDA networks become more numerous and more complex, it has become more difficult to secure them against electronic attacks in the form of viruses or other malicious software .-History:The...
since the first smartphone viruses
Caribe (computer worm)
Cabir is the name of a computer worm developed in 2004 that is designed to infect mobile phones running Symbian OS. It is believed to be the first computer worm that can infect mobile phones...
were found.
The blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
"News from the Lab", started by Hyppönen in 2004 was the first blog from any antivirus company.
Controversy on Twitter
Hyppönen has been very active on Twitter. However, his account was banned by Twitter administrators in October 2009 and all hisfollowers were removed. This was because Hyppönen had posted a Tweet with a link to a phishing site. After several days, he regained access to his account. Despite these problems, Hypponen is credited by Twitter for improving Twitter's security.
See also
- F-SecureF-SecureF-Secure Corporation is an anti-virus and computer security software company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has 18 country offices and a presence in more than 100 countries, with Security Lab operations in Helsinki, Finland and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
- IMPACT
- CAROCAROCARO is a group that was established in 1990 to research and study malware.The annual workshop is the biggest CARO annual event. The workshop usually organized and hosted by one anti-virus firm in their home country. The CARO Workshop 2009 was held in Budapest, Hungary and organized by Virus Buster...