CWHK:Do you think you'll see similar growth in mobile viruses?

MH:We hope not, we're trying to prevent that. That's why we are active in this field, and working with mobile phone vendors, telcos and manufacturers like Symbian themselves in trying to secure the actual devices and operating systems.

CWHK: What changes have you seen with Windows OS viruses?

MH:Many people worry that if they get hit by a virus, it will destroy their files or format their hard drives. But nowadays, none of the current Windows viruses destroy stuff. They might of course have compatibility problems and crash the system by accident, but that isn't the target.

What they're trying to do is steal your files, steal your information, steal whatever you typed--your password, your credit card number--or to connect your machine to a botnet so they can use it. They want to benefit from your computer, not destroy it.