After fighting malware for decades, this cybersecurity veteran is now hacking drones
6.7 relevance
Score Breakdown
technical depth 7
novelty 7
actionability 6
community 7
strategic 7
personal 6
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Cybersecurity expert shifting to drone security, with technical insights on IoT/embedded security.
Summary
After 35 years fighting malware at companies like F-Secure, cybersecurity veteran Mikko Hyppönen has shifted his focus to defending against drones, a threat he considers largely uncharted compared to modern mobile security. In his 2025 Black Hat keynote, he used the 'cybersecurity Tetris' analogy—where successes vanish and failures accumulate—to describe the invisible nature of security work. His pivot is driven by proximity to the Russia-Ukraine border and the high casualty count from unmanned aerial attacks in that conflict.