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Interviews: Ask Security Expert Mikko Hypponen A Question
Even if you pay only a fraction of your time on security news, you probably already know Mikko Hypponen (Twitter, Wikipedia). He is the Chief Research Officer at F-Secure, a security firm he joined over two decades ago. Hypponen has assisted law enforcement in the United States, Europe and Asia on cybercrime cases, and has also made several appearances on BBC, TED talks, TEDx, DLD, SXSW, Black Hat, DEF CON, and Google Zeitgeist among others. He has also written for CNN, The New York Times, Wired, and BetaNews.
Hypponen has closely watched computers, networks, and security spaces grow over the years. In 2011, Hypponen tracked down the authors of the first PC virus in history -- Brain.A. Whether you want to know about the early days of malware -- when they were mostly created by hobbyists, or get an inside view of the challenges security firms face today, or how exactly does one keep himself or herself safe in the increasingly terrifying world, use the comments section to leave your question.
Editor's note: We will be collecting some of the best questions and sending them to Mikko at 22:00 GMT, Monday.
Hypponen has closely watched computers, networks, and security spaces grow over the years. In 2011, Hypponen tracked down the authors of the first PC virus in history -- Brain.A. Whether you want to know about the early days of malware -- when they were mostly created by hobbyists, or get an inside view of the challenges security firms face today, or how exactly does one keep himself or herself safe in the increasingly terrifying world, use the comments section to leave your question.
Editor's note: We will be collecting some of the best questions and sending them to Mikko at 22:00 GMT, Monday.
With the recent reports of anti-virus software sometimes actually adding security vulnerabilities to the systems, and the fact that windows ships with its own bundled anti-virus, what advantages do commercial third party anti-virus solutions these days offer?
I'm wondering specifically about the windows desktop, because this is the platform usually targeted by attackers.
One of the big security problems of Android is that you are unable to receive any software updates, including security patches, once the hardware manufacturer decides so, and hardware manufacturers have an interest in not providing updates because they cost money to test and deploy, as well as missing updates create an incentive for the customers to buy newer hardware.
This issue affects all places where the hardware vendor also supplies the software, and will become more and more important, as internet connected software gets its way into more and more things around us.
How can this problem be solved?
Dear Mr. Hypponen,
As a security expert, what would you consider to be the real risks from Intel ME (& AMD equivalent) technologies for the average business? Is there a particular mitigation strategy you would recommend?
By average business I mean a company that engages in financial transactions with its vendors and customers. I'm also assuming that at least some of these companies have trade secrets they want to protect from their competitors.
Many thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.
Kind regards,
A
What would you like to see in a computer 'health' class? After cleaning up several of my son's friend's computers from rampant spyware/malware/etc, it's clear that kids are given computers without any real training or discipline in how to protect themselves.
With all the sharing done on social media today, including lists and 'here's how to generate your porn/potter/star trek/etc name based on street address/birthday/etc', what alternate security questions should (if any) a website use to verify identity?
"Though it may take a thousand years, we shall be FREE."