Mikko Niemelä

Mikko S. Niemelä is president and CEO of Kinkayo, a Singapore-based cyber intelligence agency. He is also chairman of Silverskin, a cyberattack company, and author of Anatomy of a Cyberattack.

Mikko holds a degree in computer science and possesses the following certifications:
GSNA, GCIH, GWAPT, GSLC and GLEG from SANS and a certificate in global management and corporate governance from INSEAD.

As a serial entrepreneur, Mikko lives for startup heavy lifting by creating technologies and solutions from scratch. He has been ranked among the top 100 cybersecurity influencers, and in 2017, his company was nominated for the second time in a row for the Cybersecurity 500 list, a global compilation of the hottest and most innovative cybersecurity companies.

During his career, Mikko has focused on security testing and auditing information systems, security leadership and management, incident response and digital forensics, cyber defence and exploit development.

Prior to this, Mikko was a trainer for law enforcement agencies such as Interpol, the armed forces and a number of intelligence agencies. He is currently the program director for the Hands-on cybersecurity manager program at the University of Free State.

Mikko is currently researching cyber exposure and cyberattacks and their implications for decision making at both the management and board levels. He previously developed a security metrics model for assessing an organization’s internal security controls. Mikko also holds a patent in cryptography.

• mikko@kinkayo.com