F-Secure

History

F-Secure was first established under the name Data Fellows by Petri Allas and Risto Siilasmaa on 16 May 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’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 17 February 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 1 July 2022, when F-Secure was listed on Nasdaq Helsinki and the corporate business was completely separated from the company.

References

References

1. [https://storage.mfn.se/6212cbc7-eb11-470c-9eb3-c3be37a5bcb8/f-secure-financial-statement-release-2022.pdf Financial statement 2022]
2. "Annual Report 2020". F-Secure Corporation.
3. "Using Blacklight to detect and remove Rootkits from your computer: Home". BleepingComputer.
4. "F-Secure snaps up security consultation firm nSense: Home". [[ZDNet]].
5. "F-Secure F-Secure acquires consultancy player Inverse Path: Home". [[Computer Weekly]].
6. "The Independent IT-Security Institute: Home". [[AV-TEST]].
7. (2018-06-18). "F-Secure acquires MWR InfoSecurity". Help Net Security.
8. (2018-06-18). "F-Secure to buy cyber security firm MWR". Reuters.
9. "Demerger | WithSecure™".
10. (1 July 2022). "Nasdaq Helsinki welcomes F-Secure after a partial demerger".
11. Ranger, Steve. "Inside the secret digital arms race: Facing the threat of a global cyberwar". [[TechRepublic]].