F-Secure Corporation (formerly Data Fellows) is an anti-virus and computer security software company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has branch offices in the US and Malaysia, where antivirus analysis and software development work is ongoing. F-Secure Corp. is publicly traded on the Helsinki Stock Exchange under the symbol FSC1V.

F-Secure claims that it was the first antivirus vendor to establish a presence on the World Wide Web. The F-Secure Labs weblog tracks global internet and mobile security threats.

History

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 storage and backup services for consumers.^[1]

Products

The current line of home-user products from F-Secure includes F-Secure Internet Security 2010, F-Secure Anti-Virus 2010, F-Secure Mobile Security, F-Secure Online Backup and F-Secure Home Server.

F-Secure?s business products include F-Secure Protection Service, F-Secure Client Security, F-Secure for Exchange, F-Secure Policy Manager Framework, F-Secure Messaging Security Gateway and F-Secure Linux Security.

White-labeled versions of F-Secure?s security software are also available through operators around the world via monthly or yearly subscription plans.

Technology

F-Secure has had OEM agreements with several security vendors to integrate detection technology engines in its own offerings. The newest offerings rely on BitDefender and house-made engines exclusively.

DeepGuard, now in its 2.0 incarnation, is an F-Secure in-house developed HIPS or advanced system monitoring technology, which detects new or unknown malware intrusions based on unusual, suspicious changes in the Windows system and automatically blocks processes caught in the act. DeepGuard is resource intensive and requires fairly strong hardware to work without affecting customer experience (1GHz+ CPU and 512MB RAM or better recommended).

In July 2009 F-Secure bought French company Steek SA which provides software for online storage and data management solutions to fixed line and mobile operators. Steek SA is being fully integrated into F-Secure as the Storage and Digital Content business unit.

Academia

In co-operation with Helsinki University of Technology, F-Secure specialists educate future virus analysts in a one semester course, with some material available on-line. http://www.tml.tkk.fi/Opinnot/T-110.6220/

References

1. ↑ http://eu.techcrunch.com/2009/07/15/f-secure-pays-e275-million-for-french-storage-startup-steek/

External links

• Official website
• Anti-Virus Lab weblog
• Rootkit detection utility ''Blacklight'' for the Windows platform

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