Who Are We?
Organising Team
Viktoria Edes
Apostolos Gkletos
Daniel Santos
Adam Zelman
Our Mission
We started BSides Helsinki because we felt something was missing.
Not just another conference. There are plenty of those. What was missing was a space where people could actually talk. Where a student with a sharp idea sits in the same room as a 20-year veteran, and both of them leave having learned something. Where the hallway conversation is just as valuable as the talk on stage.
That’s what we’re building.
BSides Helsinki is community-run, volunteer-driven, and deliberately kept human in scale. We’re not here to impress anyone. We’re here to make the Finnish and broader Nordic security community a little stronger, a little more connected, and a lot more open than we found it.
If you work in security, or you’re trying to, this event is for you. Not just for the experts. Not just for the established voices. For anyone who gives a damn about this field and wants to be part of something real.
What Makes Us Different
Honestly? We’re just people who care.
There’s no big budget behind this. No vendor agenda driving the programme. No keynote booked because of a sponsorship deal. Every decision we make comes back to one question: is this good for the community?
We want BSides Helsinki to feel like the best conversation you had at a conference. Except that’s the whole event. Informal. Honest. A bit rough around the edges sometimes. That’s fine by us.
We’re also serious about who gets to be in the room. We actively want first-time speakers. We want people who are new to the field and not sure they belong yet. We want diverse voices and perspectives, because security problems don’t discriminate, and neither should we.
This isn’t a polished production. It’s built by volunteers, for the community, on nights and weekends. We think that’s worth something.
Code of Conduct
BSides Helsinki is committed to being a safe, welcoming, and respectful space for everyone, regardless of experience level, background, gender, sexuality, disability, ethnicity, religion, or any other characteristic.
We take this seriously. It’s not a legal formality. It’s the baseline for how we expect everyone, attendees, speakers, sponsors, and organisers, to treat each other.
What we expect from everyone:
- Treat people with respect. That includes people you disagree with.
- Be patient with those who are newer to the field. We were all beginners once.
- If someone asks you to stop a behaviour, stop. No debate.
- Look out for each other. If something feels wrong, say something.