Mikko Hypponen
Mikko Hypponen
Mikko Hermanni Hyppönenis a computer security expert and columnist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
CountryUnited States of America
awhile figure home people reported
These will only get reported when people get home from work, and it will take awhile before they figure out who to call.
affect automatic backing corrupted daily drive drives external files good hard might network taking thumb
This is nasty, as this is done on all mounted drives, ie. any drive that has a drive letter. So it might affect your USB thumb drives, external hard drives and network drives. Also, if you're taking daily automatic backups, you might end up backing up the corrupted files over good files.
bent change evolution financial gangs operated virus
The most significant change has been the evolution of virus writing hobbyists into criminally operated gangs bent on financial gain.
common totally
Otherwise, it's totally new code. But there's a common idea,
emerge happened mobile sure took viruses
It took 15 years for the first moneymaking viruses to emerge for the PC. On the mobile side, I'm sure it will happen. It just hasn't happened yet.
backup companies extend including patch procedures security sure
Companies should make sure that their patch procedures extend to all applications, including security and backup programs.
check clicking convincing fairly site surfing
Everything would look fairly convincing if they did some surfing to check out the site before clicking on the link. But they would still get burned.
affects computers security
The vulnerability probably affects more computers than any other security vulnerability, ever.
anybody change relatively says trivial understand virus
It's trivial for anybody to understand how it works, ... To modify the virus is relatively easy, and to change what the e-mail says is trivial.
national online
Online crime is practically always international, because they almost always cross traditional national borders.
attacks causing false improve percent possible strike systems time
Antivirus systems need to strike a balance between detecting all possible attacks without causing any false alarms. And while we try to improve on this all the time, there will never be a solution that is 100 percent perfect.
bigger computers estimate percent potential problems situation vulnerable worldwide
Right now, the situation is bad, but it could be much worse. The potential for problems is bigger than we have ever seen. We estimate 99 percent of computers worldwide are vulnerable to this attack.
beyond corporate finds quite spread worm
The worm can spread quite well once it finds its way beyond corporate firewalls.
activity coming heard time
It's the first time I've heard of any activity coming from there.