WITHSECURE OYJ

Their core work

WithSecure (formerly F-Secure Business) is a major Finnish cybersecurity company that provides endpoint protection, threat detection, and security consulting services to enterprises. In H2020 projects, they contribute real-world cybersecurity expertise — from threat intelligence and attack modeling to privacy-preserving technologies and AI-driven security operations. Their work bridges the gap between academic security research and commercial cyber defense products, bringing industry-grade tooling and threat landscape knowledge to research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), WithSecure focused on cloud infrastructure security, secure connectivity, and foundational cybersecurity ethics — projects like SSICLOPS and CANVAS dealt with secure operations and value-driven security frameworks. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward AI-driven security operations, explainable AI, and trustworthy machine learning applied to cyber defense, with projects like SOCCRATES, SPATIAL, and InSecTT. The later period also shows growing attention to software certification, security auditing standards, and accountability — suggesting a move from pure threat detection toward verifiable, auditable security.

WithSecure is moving toward AI-powered, auditable, and certifiable cybersecurity — expect them to seek collaborations at the intersection of machine learning, threat automation, and security standards compliance.

How they like to work

WithSecure participates exclusively as a consortium partner — across all 13 projects they have never coordinated, which is typical for large industry players contributing domain expertise rather than managing research administration. With 211 unique partners across 27 countries, they operate as a broadly networked specialist rather than a hub, joining diverse consortia where their commercial cybersecurity experience adds practical grounding. Their consistent participation across multiple funding schemes (IA, RIA, CSA, ECSEL) shows flexibility in adapting to different project formats.

WithSecure has collaborated with 211 unique partners across 27 countries, making them one of the more broadly connected cybersecurity companies in H2020. Their network spans most of the EU, with no narrow geographic concentration — a reflection of cybersecurity's inherently cross-border nature.

What sets them apart

WithSecure brings something most academic cybersecurity partners cannot: a commercial threat intelligence operation that sees real attacks daily. This gives their contributions immediate practical relevance — they know what attackers actually do, not just what they theoretically could do. For consortium builders, they offer a credible industry voice that strengthens impact narratives and provides realistic validation environments for security research outputs.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CC-DRIVER
  Largest single funding (EUR 691K) — focused on understanding cybercrime drivers including crime-as-a-service and juvenile cybercriminality, an unusually socio-technical topic for a security vendor.
• SOCCRATES
  Directly aligned with WithSecure's core business (SOC/CSIRT operations) — their contribution to attack defense graphs and threat prediction likely fed back into commercial products.
• SPATIAL
  Represents their most mature position at the intersection of trustworthy AI, privacy preservation, and cybersecurity accountability — a strong signal of their current strategic direction.