Mikko Hyppönen

Mikko Hermanni Hyppönen (born October 13, 1969) is a Finnish computer security researcher and speaker who became one of the most publicly recognized figures in malware research over a career spanning more than three decades. He joined the small Finnish start-up Data Fellows in 1991 while still a computer science student; the company later became F-Secure.

Career at F-Secure and WithSecure

Hyppönen spent 34 years at F-Secure and its successor organizations, serving as Chief Research Officer. When F-Secure split its business into two separate companies in 2022, its consumer security business retained the F-Secure name while the corporate cybersecurity business became WithSecure; Hyppönen continued as Chief Research Officer at WithSecure. In June 2025 he announced he was leaving after this long tenure to become Chief Research Officer and part-owner at Sensofusion, a Helsinki-based anti-drone detection company.

Malware Research and Investigations

During his time in malware research, Hyppönen and his teams investigated numerous major threats and outbreaks. He is particularly known for a widely publicized 2011 trip in which he tracked down and personally visited Basit and Amjad Farooq Alvi, the Pakistani brothers who wrote Brain, the first PC virus, at their business address in Lahore — the address had been embedded in the virus's own code. He also commented extensively in the press on state-linked malware such as Stuxnet, describing it as a turning point that marked the start of a new 'cyber arms race.'

Public Speaking and Communication

Hyppönen became known as a prominent public communicator on cybersecurity, delivering a widely viewed talk, 'Fighting Viruses, Defending the Net,' at TEDGlobal in 2011. He has also spoken at major security and technology conferences including Black Hat, DEF CON, and the RSA Conference, and founded 'News from the Lab,' one of the first antivirus-industry blogs, in 2004.

Recognition and Legacy

Hyppönen was named to PC World's list of the 50 most important people on the web (2007) and Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers (2011), and was named CISO MAG's Cybersecurity Person of the Year in 2020. He is also known for coining 'Hyppönen's Law,' the observation that any device marketed as 'smart' is inherently vulnerable to attack, which became the title of his 2022 book.

Timeline

• 1969-10-13Born in Finland.
• 1991Joins Data Fellows (later F-Secure) as a security researcher.
• 2004Founds 'News from the Lab,' an early antivirus-industry research blog.
• 2011Travels to Lahore, Pakistan, to track down and interview the authors of the Brain virus.
• 2011Delivers TED talk 'Fighting Viruses, Defending the Net' at TEDGlobal.
• 2020Named CISO MAG Cybersecurity Person of the Year.
• 2022F-Secure splits into F-Secure and WithSecure; Hyppönen continues as Chief Research Officer at WithSecure.
• 2025-06-03Announces departure after 34 years to join Sensofusion as Chief Research Officer.