Cybercation 2025
Event In Numbers
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Young Cyber Talents Competing
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Forum Highlights
The Cybercation Forum explored the intersection of cybersecurity and AI, addressing how talent, technology, ethics, and education shape the future of digital resilience. Over 20 speakers from academia, business, and government shared perspectives on how collaboration and education can accelerate progress in the face of emerging threats.
Key topics included:
- Cybersecurity Education and Talent as a Strategic Asset – Strengthening regional cyber resilience through education and collaboration.
- Shaping the Next Generation of Cyber Talent in the Age of AI – Bridging the skills gap and aligning education with real-world demands.
- Boosting Innovation through Cybersecurity Talent – Showcasing young talent as a driver of business growth and competitiveness.
- Law and Ethics in Cybersecurity – Navigating the legal and moral dimensions in AI and cyber education.
Speakers highlighted the urgent need for coordinated action between the private sector, academia, and policymakers. As one expert noted, “We can’t rely only on slow-moving national and international frameworks; we need to act now to keep our digital societies secure.”
Empowering Future Talent
The Telia Cybercation Challenge brought together more than 300 young cybersecurity talents aged 15–25 from across the Nordic and Baltic countries. Through hands-on tasks in defense, decoding, and collaboration, participants demonstrated the creativity and technical excellence that will shape the region’s digital future.
Winners of the 2025 Telia Cybercation Challenge:
- 1st place: zeroday (Lithuania)
- 2nd place: iku-toppene (Norway)
- 3rd place: oppipahan (Finland)
- Enigma Award: rooting4girls (Latvia), for exceptional teamwork and curiosity in solving complex challenges.
The competition once again proved that nurturing young talent is key to building both national and regional resilience in cybersecurity.
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Special Thanks To Our Speakers
Peer Kristensen
Director, Security Tech Space
Director, Security Tech Space (Denmark).
Founder & Driver of Cyber Campus Denmark – national initiative uniting universities, industry, and government in cybersecurity talent development.
Former airport director and senior executive in the hospitality industry with extensive experience in strategic business development.
Active contributor to public debate on cybersecurity and digital resilience in Denmark and internationally.
Maria Bique
CEO, Cybercoach
Maria Bique is the CEO of CyberCoach and a doctoral researcher in AI privacy at Aalto University, pioneering privacy-first and accessible security education in the AI era. With an extensive background in cybersecurity, privacy, and leadership in emerging technologies, Maria strives to be part of building a future where everyone can equally benefit from technology.
Peter Sund
CEO, Finnish Information Security Cluster (FISC)
Peter is the CEO of Finnish Information Security Cluster, an alliance for the cybersecurity industry with a purpose to promote cybersecurity and the viability of the sector. Previously, he has contributed to security policy and practice at national, EU, OSCE, UN and corporate contexts, carrying responsibilities on defence, public security governance and regulation, risk management and cybersecurity. He is educated in law, engineering, business administration and security.
Tiina Laisi-Puheloinen
CEO, FiBAN
As CEO of FiBAN, she has actively championed cybersecurity startups and emphasized the long-term importance of digital security solutions. In her role as a board member of LOUHE, she brings strong insight into cyber-physical security and understands how organisations should prepare for emerging threats.
Touko Apajalahti
Head of Education Policy, Technology Industries of Finland
Touko works as Head of Education Policy for Technology industries Finland. His work includes skills needs foresight and anticipation in the Finnish technology sector. Through this foresight work he's been looking at how cybersecurity skills needs are evolving both in the sector in general and in detail for the cybersecurity branch. Other part of his experience is in education policy advocacy, e.g. in how to turn these insights into decision-making in educational institutions and at education policy level.
Göran Olofsson
Head of Innovation, Cybercampus Sverige
Göran is now building the innovation actions of Cybercampus Sverige based on his long and varied experience from driving digital innovation in EU-based ecosystems of partners including large corporations, public sector actors as well as entrepreneurs, startups and academic researchers.
Cybersecurity as a critical component of digital innovation has been part of Göran's work since the information security group was part of his responsibilites at Telia.
Timo Laaksonen
President & CEO, F-Secure Corporation
Timo is passionate about sharing best practices in cyber security – in terms that everyone can relate to – and is dedicated to helping service providers build successful security business that complement their core services. He has 15 years of experience in international cybersecurity business leadership roles, both in business and consumer security fields. Primary focus on European and US cybersecurity markets, with touchpoints also on Japan, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
Olli Pirttijärvi
VP, Head of B2B Telia Finland
Olli is heading Telia Finland’s B2B business, where he is responsible for delivering market-leading mobile networks, connectivity and IT-solutions, and cybersecurity services to enterprises. He has a strong background spanning both the telecommunications and IT industries, with extensive international expertise. His focus is on enabling secure digitalization for businesses and society by combining resilient networks with advanced cybersecurity capabilities.
Jonna Järveläinen
Associate Professor, University of Jyväskylä
Jonna Järveläinen is an associate professor (tenure track) of Information Systems Science at the Faculty of Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She has researched management of cybersecurity and business continuity since 2008, currently focusing on the human role in organizational cybersecurity, as well as interorganizational cybersecurity and cybersecurity collaboration between organizations, based on funded projects by, e.g., Business Finland and National Emergency Supply Agency.
Maarit Watkins
Competence Development Manager, Telia Cygate Oy
Maarit Watkins works as a Competence Development Manager maintaining and developing Telia Cygate's competence management model, business-driven talent development and strategic competence development program, alongside with technology partner certification programs. Telia Cygate is known for certified competence, expertise and the quality of ICT services. We believe that recognition in this field is built through consistent and hard work without compromising on quality – together we can solve all challenges. Security is the core essence of Telia Cygate's reputation. We want to be not only a secure and long-term partner for our customers, but also the best workplace for our experts. Together we secure the most important functions of society.
Henri Ratnik
Attorney at law, Co-Head of IT/IP law, Widen Legal
Henri Ratnik is a seasoned attorney and Co-Head of IT/IP law at WIDEN, with deep expertise in cybersecurity law across in EU and Estonia. He has advised leading tech firms, hospitals, and fintech companies on GDPR, NIS2, and DORA compliance, and regularly supports clients in managing data breaches and cyber incidents. Henri is also a lecturer at TalTech University, contributing to the education of future cybersecurity professionals. His thought leadership includes speaking at major conferences such as Cybercation 2024 and AmCham Estonia’s AI & Cybersecurity forum. Henri’s practical, risk-based approach ensures legal resilience for clients navigating complex digital environments.
Nina Olesen
Chief Growth Officer, European Cyber Security Organisation
Nina Olesen currently serves as Chief Growth Officer at ECSO and COO of the Women4Cyber Foundation. With over a decade of experience, she has played a key role in shaping practical solutions to address Europe’s cybersecurity skills gap and improve diversity in the sector. At ECSO, Nina drives strategic growth by expanding partnerships, deepening member engagement, and advancing initiatives that strengthen Europe’s cyber resilience. Her work—especially through Women4Cyber—focuses on building an inclusive, skilled, and future-ready cybersecurity workforce. In recognition of her impact, Nina was named a Finalist for Belgium's Cyber Security Personality of the Year in 2023.
Jesper Olsen
Chief Security Officer, Palo Alto Networks
Jesper is the Chief Security Officer for Northern Europe at Palo Alto Networks where he delivers strategic counsel to large organizations, governments and military entities. Joining the company in 2021, he brings more than two decades of experience and knowledge in leading Information Security efforts across software development, systems & security architecture, national security strategies, and government policy.
Rainer Ratnik
CEO, Attorney at Law, Widen
Practicioner of law, Data Protection and Cyber matters since 2013. He’s the COO of WIDEN in the Baltics and an attorney-at-law. He’s an experienced legal strategist and a specialist in cross-border and IT law, with 10 years of combined experience as an attorney and in-house legal counsel working on various matters concerning cybersecurity.
Anett Numa
Chief of International Affairs, Neverhack
As a Chief of International Affairs at Neverhack Group, the world’s leading cybersecurity company, I lead our global representation and strategic partnerships with governments, international organizations, and policymakers, aiming to enhance Neverhack’s brand recognition and expand its global impact.
Lassi Virtanen
Senior Lecturer, Business Information Technology, Laurea University of Applied Sciences
Senior Lecturer in business information technology field. Background in cloud services and digital service development (SaaS) with cyber security in mind. Focus on digital sales, customer experience, automation and online learning. Interest in personal data protection.
Päivi Bosquet
Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministy of Education and Culture
Päivi works at the Ministry of Education and Culture, where she is responsible for preparing EU-related matters concerning education and skills.
Päivi is involved in developing a framework for micro-credentials and actively follows initiatives related to competence development across different sectors. These sectors also include cybersecurity skills, which have become an increasingly important area of focus. Her work combines knowledge of funding mechanisms with a policy-oriented approach to education and skills.
Päivi has experience in preparing and presenting projects related to skills development across various sectors, with a particular focus on both EU structural funds and national funding instruments.
Erkki Keldo
Minister of Economy and Industry of the Republic of Estonia
Erkki Keldo is the Minister of Economy and Industry of Estonia, a forward-thinking leader focused on driving entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainable growth. His work centres on strengthening Estonia’s competitiveness through sustainable industries, research and development, cybersecurity, and cutting-edge technology.
As Minister, he oversees the areas of economy and innovation, employment and labor market policy, and planning and land policy. Before his appointment as Minister, Mr Keldo was a Member of the Estonian Parliament (2019–2024) and previously served as the Secretary General of the Estonian Reform Party. He holds a degree in Political Science from Tallinn University.
Sari Latomaa
Inspector, National Bureau of Investigation
Sari Latomaa is a researcher and juridical scientist, currently working as an Inspector for the Cybercrime Exit –cyber offender prevention program of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation. As a part of special preventive operations, Latomaa develops interventions to prevent serious cybercrime, advances cyber offender prevention initiatives, and trains law enforcement and stakeholders on preventing cybercrime. Prior to joining the NBI, Latomaa has an extensive background in social justice and combatting human trafficking and online exploitation, and is experienced in managing national working groups and leading multidisciplinary projects in the anti-trafficking field.
Oleg Shvaikovsky
Co-founder and Member of Supervisory Board, AI-Leap.
Oleg Shvaikovsky is a recognized Estonian leader at the intersection of technology and education, with 25+ years in digital transformation, innovation, and strategic management, a serial investor who connects pedagogy, innovation, and sustainable business models. He holds master’s degrees in Theoretical Physics and an MBA in Strategic Management.
Claus Kurt Nielsen
GTM Strategist, Campfire Security
Provided strategic advisory to C-suite and boards, driving organizational transition and business development. Blended career featuring deep international experience in both managerial and consulting roles. Focused on elevating executive awareness and commitment to robust cybersecurity.
Grete Kodi
Founder and Head Organizer of Cybercation
Grete Kodi founded Cybercation to bring together the brain pool from across the Nordic and Baltic region to strengthen cyber skills and awareness. What began in 2022 as an idea to connect educators, students and industry has grown into a regional platform for collaboration, learning and innovation in cybersecurity.
As the former Digital Adviser at the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Estonia, Grete works on digitalization and cybersecurity initiatives that unite countries around shared challenges and opportunities. She also helped launch the Nordic-Baltic Cyber Skills Think Tank, focused on building a strong regional talent ecosystem.
Driven by curiosity and purpose, Grete believes that awareness, education, and cross-sectoral collaboration are the cornerstones of a safer digital society.