Annual Report

2023

Every digital moment secured.

Financials

F-Secure 

Corporate Governance

Sustainability Statement

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regulation. The Financial Statements and Board of Directors’ report 2023 in accordance with ESEF regulations

are available electronically as an xHTML document at www.f-secure.com/en/investors.

F-Secure 

Sustainability Statement

Financials

F-Secure 

Corporate Governance

Sustainability Statement

At F-Secure, we impact the digital

lives of tens of millions of people.

Consumers today encounter digital moments at home, on the

move, on multiple devices and through numerous applications.

security products and services related to endpoint security,

privacy protection, password management and digital identity

protection, and router security that protects consumers’ entire

connected home. Via our award-winning consumer products

and approximately 200 service provider partners, we protect

around 30 million people around the world.

Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, F-Secure operates

globally in multiple locations and has approximately 30 million

subscribers in all channels. F-Secure revenue in 2023 was EUR

130.4 million and employed around 520 people. F-Secure shares

President and CEO’s review

he year 2023 was the second consecutive year

partners signed up for F-Secure Total upgrade and 38

value creation, such as novel scam protection features

and customer experience enhancements. Finally, we

strengthened our capabilities across the board to

win and serve Tier 1 partners - investments that are

expected to bear fruit in 2024.

in the world. The most crucial factor in achieving this

goal is our ability to attract and retain a highly capable

and inspired team of people. I want to express my

Our year 2023

In October we announced, together

with TNG Digital, Malaysia’s mobility

leader, the co-creation of an embedded

security solution to protect Touch ’n

Go eWallet and the data privacy of its

growing user base. This embedded

new standard for protecting identities

with a simple, frictionless embedded

security solution.

rovider partners, our employees, and

Developing current

offering and new

Strategy

experience leader in the world.

Our vison

F-Secure to become the #1 security

experience company in the world

Operating priorities

F-Secure as an investment

Social information

future for people and society, and also fostering

a workplace culture that thrives on purpose,

diversity, openness and shared responsibility.”

Fellow experience

Moreover, it is important for us that all our employees

have equal access to opportunities and receive the

same treatment. We firmly believe that a diverse

workforce is a key driver for success, which we actively

take into account in a relatively male-dominance

Directors, it was 67% and 33% respectively. We are

also pleased to report zero discrimination incidents at

F-Secure during 2023. To further our DEI agenda, we will

include a third gender option in our internal systems for

-

F-Secure Social Information statement is aligned with our ESG Commitments

and divided into three categories:

Culture Journey, we’ve been involving all levels of staff to

summary of the survey and key action points were

presented to the Board of Directors.

2023 was a year of change that affected everyone

at F-Secure due to the acquisition of Lookout Life in

Q2 and the change negotiations that concerned the

entire workforce in Q4. With the Lookout life acquisition

F-Secure grew by 68 employees, and the focus was on

integrating the new employees into F-Secure processes,

including HR processes such as annual goal setting

and performance reviews.

The Q4/23 change negotiations were initiated as part

a result of the change negotiations and other measures,

56 employments in F-Secure were terminated, of which

39 in Finland. In addition, 10 roles of which 8 in Finland,

ceased e.g. through resignations. In the spirit of trans

end of 2023 due to understandable uncertainty about

the future.

As part of our preparation for the CSRD legislation we

conducted a double materiality assessment which

identified “Own workforce” as one of the key areas for

our business. The assessment also concluded that

not considered material to F-Secure.

1)

Protecting digital moments

Complexity remains one of the worst enemies of cyber

and realize its vision to become the #1 security

experience company.

We execute on our vision and aim to become the

consumer’s trusted companion through several means:

1 Holistic protection across consumers’ digital

2 Contextual and personalized experience that makes

3 Helping consumers be aware and empowered to stay

was the release of F-Secure Total in Q1/2023, which

includes all the security, privacy and identity protection

features in one single app across operating systems.

We constantly monitor the success of our journey using

the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and were pleased to see

that the NPS for Total was 49 in 2023, an improvement

from 42 in 2021 and 46 in 2022.

We expect the NPS to continue to increase in 2024

as we launch new versions of Total that enhance the

customer experience and introduce new protection

Our partners value our offering, day-to-day support and

F-Secure is also better positioned to serve the needs

of large Tier 1 Service Providers, for example, AT&T,

T-Mobile/Sprint and DoCoMo.

have now become a trillion-dollar business, already

affecting more than 1 out of 4 people worldwide.

These frauds can resemble traditional tech support

scams where criminals pose as bank or government

officials who insist that victims transfer large sums of

money to various accounts for “safe” keeping. Or fake

text messages received especially during the holiday

season from a delivery company asking for more

information that could lead to identity theft.

ake shopping websites and combine them with

Our deployed products are undergoing a transition

APIs and can also optimize the number of queries.

Using our new APIs, our scam protection technology is

now being used approximately 20 million times per day,

AI scams work, what is spoofing, how to avoid fake

websites and more.

Note that the above does not include awareness

creation activities and consumers reached through our

Service Provider partners, which can be estimated to

be significant.

Security and privacy in our daily operations

committed to protecting

this trust by developing and operating our

products securely.”

F-Secure’s approach to cyber security focuses on

managing of information security, privacy, and software

security across our products and the supporting

F-Secure Chief Information Security Officer together

with the Security Office leads the governance and

implementation of the cyber security practices

across all business functions. Security metrics and

progress of security initiatives are regularly reported

to the F-Secure Leadership Team. In addition, the

Security Steering group consisting of the CEO, General

Counsel, CTO, CFO, and Corporate Development

directs strategic security work and reviews security

performance on quarterly basis.

of our products and business services.

F-Secure products are developed and operated in

accordance with our comprehensive secure software

F-Secure is in the business of trust. Through our

products we are present in our customers’ digital

moments and have developed a unique understanding

of the consequences of personal data breaches to

to maintaining this trust by building cyber security

and privacy into our products and operations, and by

complying with the related applicable legislation in the

countries where we operate.

We continuously assess the effectiveness of our cyber

processes follow the appropriate cyber security

practices.

After the demerger from WithSecure in 2022, F-Secure

has been renewing its cyber security strategy, policies

and guidelines and establishing new cyber security

to reflect the new F-Secure organization and ways

of working. We also started a compliance project to

achieve ISO27001 certification for our cyber security

In accordance with our updated security policies, we

renewed our annual cyber security awareness training

and rolled it out to all employees. In addition, 84% of our

incidents. Throughout the year, we faced only two major

security incidents which were both responded to and

mitigated in a timely manner. No customer data was

affected by these or other security incidents.

Finally, we continued to improve the coverage of

our automated vulnerability management tools

on our products and supporting infrastructure. We

improved our patching cadence and continued to

work with independent security researchers to identify

vulnerabilities and bugs in our products which were

F-Secure continuously assesses the impact of privacy

regulations on our operations and identifies the key

regulatory requirements arising from them. We will

continue to maintain an up-to-date understanding

of regulatory developments and changes in our

business and to update our internal privacy policies

and processes accordingly. F-Secure conducts

regular privacy impact assessments for all significant

personal data processing activities. The outcomes of

privacy impact assessments are considered in the

F-Secure is high. In particular, our strong privacy culture,

established processes and documentation, and the

practices related to our products received positive

feedback. The identified growth areas related to a lack

of overview of privacy processes after the demerger in

2022, and steps have been taken to revive and clarify

legacy processes. In addition, a new onboarding course

on the F-Secure Learning Academy introducing privacy

topics was introduced and additional live training

events were organized. Finally, the privacy team is in

F-Secure has established its ESG Council to facilitate

strategy is not considered a separate strategy, but

aligned with F-Secure’s corporate strategy and direc

tion, led by the CEO and the Leadership Team.

F

Board reviews F-Secure’s sustainability strategy and

its implementation at least twice a year, and the Board

of Directors at least once a year. At least one person

in the Audit Committee has previous expertise in

Further focus areas in 2023, following the Lookout

Life acquisition, included Code of Conduct and cyber

security related training across F-Secure. Furthermore,

were complementary to the existing Total product,

and taking end-to-end responsibility for our products

and services. This program of work was completed

successfully within the original timescales of the TSA

all partners and customers to the latest version of our

technology platform, which will deliver more value to

customers and reduce our operational overhead. This

expect to fully complete it in 2024.

personnel. The average number of personnel in 2023

was 484 (368

(20.8) million in 2023.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, F-Secure conducted

group-wide statutory change negotiations to

restructure its global operating model and personnel to

align with the strategic priorities and financial targets

of the company. The change negotiations concerned

On 1 June 2023, the following changes to F-Secure

executive leadership team were announced: TL

Viswanathan was appointed Chief Product Business

Officer and Firas Azmeh was appointed Chief

Commercial Officer and a member of F-Secure

Leadership Team. Following these changes, Steven

Offerein, Vice President, Portfolio Management, Dmitri

Extended Leadership Team.

At the end of December 2023, the composition of the

Leadership Team was the following:

Timo Laaksonen President & Chief Executive Officer

Firas Azmeh Chief Commercial Officer

Richard Larcombe Chief Marketing Officer

Antero Norkio Senior Vice President, Corporate

Sari Somerkallio Chief Financial Officer

Kitta Virtavuo Chief People Officer

Financials

F-Secure 

Sustainability Statement

long-term incentive plans is to align shareholders’ and

management’s interests, motivate and incentivize key

individuals to focus on F-Secure’s long-term success

and targets and to commit key resources in the

company.

In addition, F-Secure has an Employee Share

Savings Plan (ESSP). The ESSP consists of annually

commencing plan periods, each one comprising a

12-month savings period and a holding period following

the savings period. The ESSP is offered to all F-Secure

employees a gross award of one matching share for

every two shares acquired with their savings. Continuity

of employment and holding of acquired shares for the

duration of the holding period are the prerequisites for

receiving the award.

More information on the programs is provided in

the note 19. Share-based payments of the Financial

Statements, as well as the Remuneration Report 2023.

Performance Share Plan and Restricted Share plan. On

2 March 2023, a total of 91,471 new shares were issued

to the plan participants of the Company’s Performance

Share Plan and Restricted Share Plan. On 4 March

2023, a total of 54,750 new shares were issued to the

second payment instalments’ participants of the

Company’s Performance Share Plan. The shares issued

account for the rewards earned from the performance

period 2020–2022 and retention period 2021–2022.

Information on the authorizations held by the Board

2023 was EUR 2.04. In January–December, the highest

price paid was EUR 3.44 and the lowest EUR 1.64. In

January–December, the share’s volume weighted

average price was EUR 2.35. The share trading volume

in January–December was EUR 92 million and 39

million shares. On 31 December 2023, the company’s

market capitalization was EUR 355 million.

The number of registered shareholders at the end

of December 2023 was 33,785, including nominee

Financials

F-Secure 

Sustainability Statement

on F-Secure’s reputation, competitiveness, results of

Uncertainty on F-Secure’s key markets, financial

markets and general economic situation could

have an adverse effect on F-Secure’s business and

growth opportunities and reduce the demand for the

products and services offered by F-Secure. Geopolitical

instability, such as the war in Ukraine has increased

the uncertainty in the world and the risk of unexpected

disruptions of the world economy. The war in Ukraine

the cyber security landscape, such as highly visible

governmental activities, as well as organized civilian

response to the war efforts.

The loss of key persons and skilled employees, the

possible delay of new hires or the increase in personnel

expenses could weaken F-Secure’s profitability and the

resources and give rise to claims for damages and

increase other costs.

and weaken its ability to offer services or solutions to its

customers.

which in turn may have a negative impact on F-Secure

product roadmaps, Company revenue and profitability.

Financials

F-Secure 

Sustainability Statement

currencies especially USD after Lookout consumer

subject to leverage covenants. Failure to comply with

the covenants would lead to early expiry of the debt.

Changes in interest rates have an impact on interest

costs.

held on 23 March 2023 adopted the annual accounts

and the consolidated annual accounts for the financial

for dividend payment on 27 March 2023. The dividend

was paid on 4 April 2023.

It was resolved that the remuneration of the

members of the Board of Directors and EUR 12,667 for

members employed by F-Secure. Furthermore, the

travel expenses and other costs of the members of the

Board of Directors directly related to board work are