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Mikko Hyppönen
Finnish computer security expert From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mikko 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 of IoT security, which states that whenever an appliance is described as being "smart", it is vulnerable.[8] He worked for 34 years as the Chief Research Officer at WithSecure (former F-Secure for Business) and as the Principal Research Advisor at F-Secure, before joining Sensofusion in 2025.
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Career
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Mikko Hyppönen worked at F-Secure in Finland from 1991, and later at WithSecure following the company's business division spin-off in 2022. Hyppönen announced in June 2025 that he would depart WithSecure after a 34-year tenure to become Chief Research Officer and part-owner at Sensofusion, a Finnish company specializing in anti-drone technologies.[9][10]
Hyppönen has assisted law enforcement in the United States, Europe and Asia since the 1990s on cybercrime cases and advises governments on cyber crime.[11] His team took down the Sobig.F botnet.[12]
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.[13]
Hyppönen has given keynotes and presentations at a number of conferences around the world, including Black Hat, DEF CON, DLD,[14] RSA, and V2 Security.[15] 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.[16]
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.[17]
Hyppönen is a columnist for BetaNews and Wired.[18] He has also written on his research for CNN, The New York Times[19] and Scientific American.[20]
In 2011, he was ranked 61st in Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers report.[21]
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Computer security history
In 2011, Hyppönen tracked down and visited the authors of the first PC virus in history, Brain. He produced a documentary of the event. The documentary was published on YouTube.[22][23][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]
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External links
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