December 19, 2017 By BlueAlly
F-Secure’s donation to HAIC will fund scholarships and grants for cyber security students at Aalto University.
Helsinki, Finland – December 19, 2017: Global cyber security provider F-Secure announced today that it is donating a financial gift to the Helsinki-Aalto Center for Information Security (HAIC) to help support students pursuing master’s degrees in cyber security. F-Secure’s donation follows a similar contribution last year,* and will be used to fund scholarships and grants for students to help offset their living costs while they attend Aalto University.
HAIC is a joint initiative created by the University of Helsinki and Aalto University in 2016 intended to support cyber security research and education at both universities. Estimates show that by 2020, tens of thousands of cyber security jobs will be created in Finland alone. According to F-Secure’s Chief Technology Officer Mika Stahlberg, leveraging Finland’s world-renowned education system is a great way to attract top-tier talent to fill those positions.
“Initiatives like these are critical to attracting potential cyber security experts to Finland to help maintain the country’s position as a global cyber security leader,” says Stahlberg. “Finland has some of the best homegrown cyber security expertise in the industry, but demand for cyber security is driving competition and we need to invest now if we want to stay ahead.”
In addition to helping fund students directly, F-Secure’s financial contributions allow HAIC to demonstrate its support from the cyber security industry, which helps them secure additional funding from other sources. One example of this is the recently created SECCLO Erasmus Mundus Master’s degree program organized by Aalto University in cooperation with five other European universities. SECCLO has received nearly three million euros in additional funding from the European Commission.**
F-Secure, an associate member of the SECCLO program, will offer additional support and professional development opportunities to SECCLO students.
“We are grateful for F-Secure’s continued support of HAIC,” says Aalto University Professor N. Asokan. “Together, HAIC and SECCLO are expected to support up to 25 incoming students. With F-Secure’s backing, we have an excellent opportunity to attract and train top-notch talent in information security.”
