Major Cyber Security Award to Professor of Practice, PhD (Military Sciences), Colonel ret. Martti Lehto

The Cyber Security Nordic Award 2022, which will be awarded for the third time, has been presented to Martti Lehto at the Cyber Security Nordic event on 12 May 2022 at Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre. The value of the prize is 10,000 euros. The award highlights the importance of cybersecurity expertise and training now more than ever before.

The Cyber Security Nordic 2022 award jury received several excellent nominations for the award. Important selection criteria were increasing the visibility and importance of cybersecurity, innovation, internationalization, and promotion of cyber expertise globally, as well as effectiveness of operations, which has been highlighted in the current global situation.

The jury’s reasons for choosing Martti Lehto were his impact in creation of national cyber security documentation and his way of spreading his extensive knowledge in the university context and business networks, acquiring international allies and friends internationally which is conductive in creating an excellent country image of Finnish know-how. Martti Lehto is undisputed first-in-class of cyber diplomacy and cyber capacity building.

Through his public appearances and expert lectures he has promoted cyber security awareness in Finland in a very significant and persistent way. In the current world situation the effectiveness of Martti Lehto’s work has risen to a class of its own. “If we did not have these experts in Finland, we would not have new technology”, it was stated in the jury’s reasoning.

Professor of Practice, PhD (Military Sciences), Colonel ret. Martti Lehto, Jyväskylä University

Under the leadership of Martti Lehto, the University of Jyväskylä started teaching cyber security in 2012 and the Master programme in cyber security in 2015, which is unique in Finland. It serves a wide range of companies as well as public sector security operators. Under his leadership the Master programme has significantly strengthened national cyber security expertise and supported the goals of the national cyber security strategy. At the national level, in addition to teaching at the University of Jyväskylä, he regularly teaches cyber security and cyber warfare also at the Air Force Academy. At the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), he has been teaching cyber security since 2013, where topics have included, among others, cyber security research and teaching, cyber security fundamentals, cyber warfare, strategic cyber security management and crisis management. In addition to this, he has been a visiting lecturer at numerous other foreign universities.

Martti Lehto has created an extensive national and international cooperation network, which includes all Finnish universities and polytechnics teaching and researching cyber security, as well as authorities in the field. He also has an extensive cooperation network with national and foreign ICT and cyber security companies, but also an international academic collaboration which have provided several wide cyber security studies and publications. His know-how is widely used in special committees of the Finnish Parliament.

Currently Martti Lehto is a major player in the cyber security field in Finland and he is also internationally very well-known.

Cyber Security Nordic Award jury includes Aapo Cederberg, CEO CyberWatch, Sauli Eloranta, Vice President, Safe and Connected Society VTT, Kirsi Kokko, Head of Digital Trust Finland Business Finland, Markku Rajamäki, Chief Policy Adviser, Corporate Security and Risk Management EK (Confederation of Finnish Industries), Jarmo Sareva, Ambassador for Cyber ​​Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Anni Vepsäläinen, CEO Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre.

The award is funded by the Finnish Fair Foundation. Cyber Security Nordic is organised by Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre in collaboration with the Finnish Information Security Cluster FISC. The strategic partners of the event are Accenture Security, WithSecure, Huawei, Microsoft, and Trend Micro. Cyber Security Nordic is arranged at Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre at 12 -13 May 2022, now for the fourth time. The event was organised as an online event in 2021. The event is held live on location and also online this year. 

More information: Communications Manager Anu-Eveliina Mattila, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre, tel: +358 50 555 6185,
anu-eveliina.mattila@messukeskus.com 

www.cybersecuritynordic.com #cybersecuritynordic2022 

Photos from the previous event: http://mediabank.messukeskus.com