F-Secure Corporation is a global
cyber security and privacy company, which has its headquarters in
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
, Finland.
The company has offices in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, with a presence in more than 100 countries, and Security Lab operations in Helsinki and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
F-Secure develops and sells
antivirus
Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware.
Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name ...
,
VPN,
password management, and other consumer
cyber security products and services for computers, mobile devices, smart TVs and
internet of things
Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The IoT encompasse ...
devices. The company also offers several free-to-use tools on its website.
In 2022, F-Secure announced a demerger of its corporate and consumer businesses: the corporate business branch was renamed to WithSecure.
History
F-Secure was first established under the name Data Fellows by Petri Allas and
Risto Siilasmaa on May 16, 1988. Data Fellows trained computer users and built customized databases. Three years later, the company launched its first major software project and developed the first
heuristic scanner for
antivirus
Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware.
Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name ...
products. F-Secure’s first antivirus product for
Windows PCs was launched in 1994. Data Fellows became F-Secure in 1999. F-Secure was the first company that developed an anti-
rootkit technology called BlackLight in 2005.
In June 2015, F-Secure expanded into the enterprise market by acquiring nSense, a Danish company that specialized in security consultation and vulnerability assessment. The purchase followed of Inverse Path, a privately owned Italian security consultancy with experience in avionics, automotive, and industrial control sectors.
F-Secure Client Security received the
AV-TEST Best Protection award for the fifth time in 2016.
In June 2018, F-Secure acquired security company MWR InfoSecurity for £80 million ($106 million). F-Secure gained the MWR consulting business (now F-Secure Consulting), its threat hunting product Countercept (now F-Secure
Managed Detection and Response), and its suite of phishing protection services, phishd.
On February 17, 2022, F-Secure announced a demerger of its corporate and consumer businesses. In conjunction with the demerger, the company was renamed as WithSecure Corporation.
The consumer security business was to be transferred into a new independent company and continue using the name F-Secure Corporation. The demerger came into effect July 1, 2022, when F-Secure was listed on
Nasdaq Helsinki
Nasdaq Helsinki, formerly known as the Helsinki Stock Exchange (, ), is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003, it has been part of Nasdaq Nordic (previously called ''OMX''). After the OMX merger, it was referred t ...
and the corporate business was completely separated from the company.
Academia
Around 2008, in co-operation with
Aalto University School of Science and Technology, F-Secure ran a one-semester course for future virus analysts, with some material available online.
Controversies
In 2001, after media coverage of the
Magic Lantern spyware and claims by some AV vendors to purposely leave a backdoor for it in their products, F-Secure announced their policy on detecting these spying programs:
"F-Secure Corporation would like to make known that we will not leave such backdoors to our F-Secure Anti-Virus products, regardless of the source of such tools. We have to draw a line with every sample we get regarding whether to detect it or not. This decision-making is influenced only by technical factors, and nothing else, but within the applicable laws and regulations, in our case meaning EU laws."
"We will also be adding detection of any program we see that might be used for
terrorist activity or to benefit
organized crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
. We would like to state this for the record, as we have received queries regarding whether we would have the guts to detect something obviously made by a known violent
mafia
"Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...
or terrorist organization. Yes we would."
See also
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Internet security
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Comparison of antivirus software
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Comparison of computer viruses
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Antivirus software
Software companies established in 1988
Software companies of Finland
Companies based in Helsinki
Companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki
Computer security software companies
Security software
Finnish brands