Mikko Hermanni Hyppönen (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈmikːo ˈhypːønen]; born 13 October 1969) is a Finnish computer security expert, speaker and author.[7] He is known for the Hyppönen Law about IoT security, which states that whenever an appliance is described as being "smart", it is vulnerable.[8] He works as the Chief Research Officer at WithSecure (former F-Secure for Business) and as the Principal Research Advisor at F-Secure.
Mikko Hyppönen | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Hyppönen in 2006 | |
| Born | Mikko Hermanni Hyppönen 13 October 1969[1] |
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Other names | Mikko Hypponen |
| Occupation(s) | Chief Research Officer for WithSecure Principal Research Advisor for F-Secure |
| Awards | CISO MAG Cybersecurity Person of the Year 2020[2] #61 Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2011[3] Virus Bulletin Award for Best educator in the anti-malware industry 2010[4][5] #43 on the 50 Most Important People on the Web 2007 list by PC World[6] |
| Website | mikko.com |
Career edit
Mikko Hyppönen has worked at F-Secure in Finland since 1991.[5]
Hyppönen has assisted law enforcement in the United States, Europe and Asia since the 1990s on cybercrime cases and advises governments on cyber crime.[9] His team took down the Sobig.F botnet.[10]
In 2004, Hyppönen cooperated with Vanity Fair on a feature, The Code Warrior, which examined his role in defeating the Blaster and Sobig Computer worms.[11]
Hyppönen has given keynotes and presentations at a number of conferences around the world, including Black Hat, DEF CON, DLD,[12] RSA, and V2 Security.[13] In addition to data security events, Hyppönen has delivered talks at general-interest events, such as TED, TEDx, DLD, SXSW, Slush 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.[14]
Hyppönen is a member of the advisory board of IMPACT (International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats) since 2007 together with Yevgeny Kaspersky, Hamadoun Touré, Fred Piper and John Thompson.[15]
Hyppönen is a columnist for BetaNews and Wired.[16] He has also written on his research for CNN, The New York Times[17] and Scientific American.[18]
In 2011, he was ranked 61st in Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers report.[19]
Hyppönen coined the term "Cybercrime Unicorns" to describe cybercrime organizations that are worth over a billion US dollars - a reference to Startup unicorns[20]
The two greatest tools of our time have been turned into government surveillance tools. I'm talking about the mobile phone and the internet. George Orwell was an optimist.
— Hyppönen on the PRISM surveillance in 2013[21]
Computer security history edit
Hyppönen made international news in 2011[22][23] when he tracked down and visited the authors of the first PC virus in history, Brain. Hyppönen produced a documentary of the event. The documentary was published on YouTube.[24]
Hyppönen has also been documenting the rise of mobile phone malware since the first smartphone viruses were found.[25]
The blog "News from the Lab", started by Hyppönen in 2004 was the first blog from any antivirus company.
Hyppönen has been credited by Twitter for improving Twitter's security.[26]
Hyppönen has been the Curator for the Malware Museum at The Internet Archive since 2016.[27]
He published his first book in October 2021,[28] and its English translation, If It's Smart, It's Vulnerable, was published in June 2022.[29]
See also edit
References edit
External links edit
- Official website
- Mikko Hyppönen on X
- Mikko Hyppönen at TED
- Cybercrime Unicorns lecture at University College London, April 2022
- Hyppönen and Nyman (2017), The Internet of (Vulnerable) Things: On Hyppönen's Law, Security Engineering, and IoT Legislation. Technology Innovation Management Review, 7(4) 5–11.
- References on Embassy cables leaked by WikiLeaks
- Mikko Hypponen: Behind Enemy Lines (Hack In The Box Security Conference 2012) on YouTube
- Mikko Hypponen: Clipping of CYBERWARFARE, CRIME AND SECURITY (DLD Conference 2013) on YouTube
- Jake Edge: Living with the surveillance state a summary of Hyppönen's talk at LinuxCon Europe 2013. LWN.net
- 10. April 2017, TTÜ Haridustehnoloogiakeskus, Public lecture by Mikko Hyppönen at Mektory, youtube.com
