F-Secure today announced its founder and CEO, Risto Siilasmaa is
transferring from CEO to Chairman of the Board effective November
6th 2006. Kimmo Alkio from Nokia Corporation has been appointed as
the new CEO effective on the same date.
Siilasmaa has been leading F-Secure since its establishment in
1988. During this period the company has grown to become one of
Finland's most esteemed ICT industry enterprises. In a study on
corporate reputation conducted this year by Finnish ICT industry
publication Tietokone, F-Secure was placed in third position.
F-Secure has also managed to achieve significant market leaderships
that are important for its future: it has a 25 per cent market
share in the combined European and North American ISP security
services markets. On the mobile security side, F-Secure is the
world's market leader in mobile operator-provisioned data security.
From the perspective of growth and profitability, the company has
witnessed extremely positive developments over the last few
years.
"F-Secure is in strong shape. Profits from recent years have
been solid and we have been able to create global leadership in our
chosen core markets according to our strategy. As Chairman of the
Board, I will give my support to the new CEO - particularly from
the point of view of strategic direction," said Siilasmaa. "I have
two goals remaining in my career - to establish a new international
growth company and to work in one of the largest global
corporations. Both goals are connected to intensive learning in new
environments. Starting up a new company would give me the chance to
test those skills which I have learnt during my time at F-Secure.
Working in a large corporation for its part would enable me to see
how a large organisation and its processes work from the inside.
However, I will forestall the making of any concrete plans before
November up to which point I will continue fully in my role as
F-Secure's CEO."
The former Chairman of the Board Pertti Ervi will continue in
the Board as deputy chairman.
Newly appointed CEO Kimmo Alkio worked until March 2005 as
F-Secure's Chief Operating Officer, continuing in Nokia
Corporation as Vice President of Consulting and Integration within
Networks. Previous to this he worked 14 years in Digital Equipment
Corporation and Compaq in a variety of leadership roles in
Switzerland, Germany and the US. His 20-year career in the ICT
industry working with operators, large corporations and in the
channel give him excellent possibilities to take F-Secure's
business and service provider focused strategy forward. "I am
extremely excited about the possibility to develop F-Secure's
operations and opportunities for growth. The company's global
ISP-focused operations are a significant factor in the ICT industry
overall and I strongly believe it will open up opportunities in the
provision of data security to both the IT and mobile device
worlds", said Alkio.
"I am extremely satisfied to be leaving the duty of CEO to
Kimmo. We worked together at the start of the current decade and
already then our cooperation was both rewarding and successful. It
is my belief that everyone at F-Secure will join with me in wishing
him a very warm welcome in his role at the head of the company,"
Siilasmaa announced.
Kimmo Alkio holds a BBA degree from Texas A&M University as
well as an Executive MBA from the Helsinki University of
Technology. He also serves as vice Chairman on the board of
Directors of Aldata Solutions (HEX:ALD)
About F-Secure Corporation
F-Secure Corporation protects consumers and businesses
against computer viruses and other threats from the Internet and
mobile networks. We want to be the most reliable provider of
security services in the market. One way to demonstrate this is the
speed of our response. According to independent studies in 2004,
2005 and 2006 our response time to new threats is significantly
faster than our major competitors. Our award-winning solutions are
available for workstations, gateways, servers and mobile phones.
They include antivirus and desktop firewall with intrusion
prevention, antispam and antispyware solutions, as well as network
control solutions for Internet Service Providers. Founded in
1988, F-Secure has been listed on the Helsinki Exchanges since
1999, and has been consistently growing faster than all its
publicly listed competitors. F-Secure headquarters are in Helsinki,
Finland, and we have regional offices around the world. F-Secure
protection is also available as a service through major ISPs, such
as France Telecom, TeliaSonera, PCCW and Charter
Communications. F-Secure is the global market leader in mobile
phone protection provided through mobile operators, such as
T-Mobile and Swisscom and mobile handset manufacturers such as
Nokia. The latest real-time virus threat scenario news are
available at the F-Secure Data Security Lab weblog at
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/
For interview appointments, please contact:
F-Secure Corporation
Jaana Sirkiä, Communications Manager
Tel. +358 9 2520 5290
