Mikko Hypponen: Stuxnet and Flame Are Like James Bond

F-Secure’s Chief Research Officer Mikko Hypponen has had an interesting interview with Dutch website Tweakers on topics such as digital wars and cybercrime.

In the interview, the expert shares some insight not only on cyber wars, but also on the actors that run them.

“The computer security field keeps changing. We have new kinds of attacks coming every couple of years. The actors keep changing. 5 years ago we didn’t have Anonymous as a player at all. 10 years ago we didn’t have governmental attacks as a player at all,” he said.

Hypponen also explained how the information security industry managed to let some pieces of malware such as Stuxnet and Flame slip past their products.

“Stuxnet and Flame look like James Bond, the government-funded attacker with unlimited budget, with the latest and greatest technology, with unlimited resources, with the best possible training. And if James Bond wants to kill you, James Bond will kill you,” he explained.