F-Secure
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| Public | |
| Traded as | Nasdaq Helsinki: FSC1V |
| Industry | Computer software |
| Founded | 1988 (as Data Fellows) 1999 (as F-Secure) |
| Founder | Petri Allas Risto Siilasmaa |
| Headquarters | Helsinki, Finland |
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Key people
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| Products | Security softwares |
| Services | Computer security |
| Revenue |  €155.1 million (2013)[2] |
 €27.1 million (2013)[2] |
|
| €16.5 million (2013)[2] |
|
|
Number of employees
|
949 (2013)[2] |
| Website | www.f-secure.com |
F-Secure Corporation (formerly Data Fellows) is a Finnish cyber security and privacy company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has 20 country offices and a presence in more than 100 countries, with Security Lab operations in Helsinki, Finland and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Through more than 200 operator partners globally, millions of broadband customer use F-Secure services. F-Secure Corp. is publicly traded on the Helsinki Stock Exchange under the symbol FSC1V.
Contents
History[edit]
F-Secure was first established under the name Data Fellows by Petri Allas and Risto Siilasmaa in 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 products. F-Secure’ 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.[citation needed]
In July 2009, F-Secure purchased Steek, a French company specialized in online file storage and backup services for consumers.[3]
F-Secure Internet Security received the product of the year award in 2010 from AV-Comparatives, as it got the least false alarms (2). This put F-Secure ahead of Panda Security (98) and other anti-virus companies.[4]
F-Secure Client Security received the Best Protection 2011 award in 2012 from AV-TEST, an independent testing organization that evaluated 2011 7 corporate protection products, and the results are based on all of the certifications tests made in 2011.[5]
Academia[edit]
In co-operation with Aalto University School of Science and Technology, F-Secure runs a one semester course for future virus analysts, with some material available on-line.[6]
Controversies[edit]
Policy on detecting government spying programs[edit]
After the media coverage of Magic Lantern (software) 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. 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 or terrorist organization. Yes we would."[7]
See also[edit]
- Antivirus
- Internet security
- Comparison of antivirus software
- Comparison of computer viruses
- Mikko Hyppönen
References[edit]
- ^ Ranger, Steve. "Inside the secret digital arms race: Facing the threat of a global cyberwar". TechRepublic. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
- ^ a b c d F-Secure Financial Key Figures
- ^ Wauters, Robin (2009-07-15). "F-Secure Pays €27.5 Million For French Storage Startup Steek". Eu.techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
- ^ "Independent Tests of Anti-Virus Software - False Alarm Tests". AV-Comparatives. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
- ^ "The Independent IT-Security Institute: Home". AV-TEST. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
- ^ "TKK - TML - Courses". TML. 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
- ^ "F-Secure Corporation's policy on detecting spying programs developed by various governments". F-Secure. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Blog of the F-Secure Security Labs
- Another Blog of the F-Secure Security Labs
- GitHub page
