Data is the New Oil

Mr. Hyppönen hunts hackers. He has spent many years working to understand online threats, who their creators are, where they come from, and why they do what they do. He explains this information is crucial to successfully defend our online systems against attacks.

Data is the New Oil

Although the past 12 months have seen several cases of turmoil created by cyber-attacks against large companies’ infrastructure, Mr. Hyppönen cautions that there is no reason to be too pessimistic—that overall, the upside of using digital technologies far outweigh the downside of these attacks. He says it’s no different than being diligent and wary of criminals in any other aspect of life or business.

Security isn’t a product, it’s a process.

Mikko Hyppönen, Chief Research Officer, F-Secure

Since any “smart technology” or anything linked to the internet can theoretically be hacked, he said that every company is a software company—and that the difference between companies that succeed and companies that don’t is how good they are with software. Which is why he thinks computer security should be a board-level subject.

Mr. Hyppönen believes that, as the cost of computing power decreases, virtually everything will go online before long. So, while we shouldn’t back down from cyber threats, we should invest in prevention. He concluded by telling the audience to think of security as the enabler of their organization’s digital goals—and encouraging them to invite hackers in and reward them for finding weaknesses in their systems.

Data is the New Oil

Keynote proceeding