Helsinki-based security generalist F-Secure will launch its F-Secure Business division as a distinct company, separating its B2B and consumer operations. The new company will be known as WithSecure.Chief Technology Officer for WithSecure Christine Bejerasco, who previously had the same position at the combined F-Secure, believes separating the companies will allow for better focus by each company. When the firm handled both business and consumer demands, research and development for priorities affecting one client group but not the other could slip through the cracks."When you have, like, so many priorities, you don't really have a priority," Bejerasco told SC Media.She said that had been a consistent inefficiency at F-Secure since she had started at the company in 2008, and sometimes lead to external companies for innovation rather than building competencies in-house.
By separating the company into two, the hope is the needs of both divisions will get their individual attention.The new WithSecure logoSeparating the companies also sequesters the high-growth corporate sales from the slower-growing consumer ones. According to F-Secure's 2021 annual shareholder report, since 2017, corporate revenue has nearly doubled from $80 million to $143 million. Consumer revenue stayed more stagnant, growing from $107 million to $117 million. In other words, in just four years, corporate sales went from being well under half the company's revenue to well over half the revenue.WithSecure inherits much of F-Secure's executive suite. Chief Executive Officer Juhani Hintikka, Chief Marketing Officer Ari Vänttinen and Bejerasco all move to WithSecure with their former F-Secure titles. Mikko Hyppönen will serve as chief research officer for the new company. Timo Laaksonen will be the new CEO of F-Secure.The internal mood among employees is sad to lose their established name, but happy to pick up focus, said Bejerasco."I've been affiliated with F-Secure for so long, changing the name almost feels like a very personal thing. But then it evolves to, 'Wait a minute, now we have an organization that's purely B2B. I don't even need to think about [the] consumer,'" she said.
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Joe is a senior reporter at SC Weekly, focused on policy issues. He previously covered cybersecurity for Axios, The Hill and the Christian Science Monitor’s short-lived Passcode website.
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