Busting the botnet-herders

31.10.2005
Mikko Hypp'nen collects coin-operated Atari game machines. And as chief research officer of Helsinki-based IT security firm F-Secure, Hypp'nen is also on the front line of defense against computer-virus outbreaks. He spoke with CWHK's Stefan Hammond after a joint press-conference with PCCW--the Hong Kong telco announced the adoption of F-Secure's Chinese version of "Security as A Service": a security product for Hong Kong ISPs branded under PCCW as "PC Guard."

CWHK: What changes have you seen in the computer security landscape?

Mikko Hypp'nen: When I joined F-Secure in 1991, there were 300 computer viruses in the world. Now there are about 140,000.

Of those 300 1991-era viruses, most were on floppy discs. If you compare the spreading speeds of those old viruses to the spreading speeds of these mobile [phone] viruses, they both started to spread when people traveled with either floppies or mobile phones. With a Bluetooth mobile virus, it jumps from Hong Kong to Helsinki when somebody flies between those cities, with their mobile phone. It's interesting: 15 years later, we're almost back at the same place.

CWHK:What operating systems were being targeted back in '91?

MH: DOS, and Mac OS. In the mid-eighties, people thought that the computer virus problem was only a Mac problem, because back then there were zero PC viruses. Right now, Mac OS X: zero viruses, you don't need an antivirus at all. And PC, 140,000.