Malware Quotes

Stuxnet, Duqu and Flame are not normal, everyday malware, of course. All three of them were most likely developed by a Western intelligence agency as part of covert operations that weren't meant to be discovered. The fact that the malware evaded detection proves how well the attackers did their job. ~ Mikko Hypponen

One common puzzle for the security-minded is how to work with confidential data on the road. Sometimes you can't bring your laptop, or don't want to. But working on somebody else's machine exposes you to malware and leaves behind all kinds of electronic trails. ~ Barton Gellman

Kyle Davis is like malware. He's infiltrated my brain in a sneak virus attack. Every time I try and focus, he pops in my head the same way internet windows pop up faster than you can shut them down. You know when that happens you've opened something you shouldn't have. ~ Kate McCarthy

A minimum precaution: keep your anti-malware protections up to date, and install security updates for all your software as soon as they arrive. ~ Barton Gellman

But modern malware is aimed less at exploiting individual computers than exploiting the Internet. A botnet-creating worm doesn't want to harm your computer; it wants to use it. ~ Mark Bowden

Consider all tabulation systems infected by bad actors until a third party, not affiliated with the manufacturer or election officials, proves they are secure. ~ James Scott, Senior Fellow, Institute For Critical Infrastructure Technology

Defending against military-strength malware is a real challenge for the computer security industry. Furthermore, the security industry is not global. It is highly focused in just a handful of countries. The rest of the countries rely on foreign security labs to provide their everyday digital security for them. ~ Mikko Hypponen

The hacking practice is quite widespread in its own right: one NSA document indicates that the agency has succeeded in infecting at least fifty thousand individual computers with a type of malware called "Quantum Insertion." One map shows the places where such operations have been performed and the number of successful insertions: ~ Glenn Greenwald

We worried for decades about WMDs – Weapons of Mass Destruction. Now it is time to worry about a new kind of WMDs – Weapons of Mass Disruption. ~ John Mariotti

Another feature differentiating this malware and making it more fun to work with is that it encrypts compressed files on the SD card. It also uses AES for the encryption. It is notable in that the attack itself is complex, yet the encryption is not. It would appear prudent to have a more robust encryption, ~ Anonymous

The destructive malware attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) in late 2014 was an unprecedented cyber event for the United States in its scope, destructiveness, and economic implications. The FBI responded to this attack with an investigation that was groundbreaking in its scope and collaboration. ~ James Comey

Security-by-design is an indispensable prerequisite to the establishment of vital critical infrastructure resiliency. Each device vulnerable to adversarial compromise, inflates and bolsters the exploitable cyber-attack surface that can be leveraged against targets, and every enslaved device grants adversaries carte blanche access that can be utilized to parasitically entwine malware into organizational networks and IoT microcosms, and that can be leveraged to amplify the impact and harm inflicted on targeted end-users, organizations, and government entities ~ James Scott, Sr. Fellow, Institute For Critical Infrastructure Technology

For example, in 2012 researchers at Kaspersky Lab in Moscow uncovered a highly complex piece of malware known as Flame that had been pilfering data from information systems around the world for more than five years before it was detected. Mikko Hypponen, the well-respected chief research officer at the computer security firm F-Secure, called Flame a failure for the antivirus industry and noted he and his colleagues may be "out of their leagues in their own game." Though millions around the world rely on these tools, it's pretty clear the antivirus era is over. ~ Marc Goodman

It's been a bit sad to see that out of Linux distributions, it was Android - the most successful mobile Linux distribution - that has really introduced the malware problem to the Linux world. ~ Mikko Hypponen

If computers are readily accessible, and they have a floppy disk or CD drive, you might also consider fitting locks to floppy and CD drives, or (in extreme cases) removing the floppy and CD drives from the computers altogether. If the server or control room Stations have unused USB ports, they should be disabled to prevent memory sticks or other uncontrolled devices from being connected to the system. Such devices may be used to introduce virus or other malware. You should also consider disabling or physically protecting the power button to prevent unauthorized use. ~ Anonymous

I think malware is a significant threat because the mitigation, like antivirus software, hasn't evolved to a point to really mitigate the risk to a reasonable degree. ~ Kevin Mitnick

A single spear-phishing email carrying a slightly altered malware can bypass multi-million dollar enterprise security solutions if an adversary deceives a cyber-hygienically apathetic employee into opening the attachment or clicking a malicious link and thereby compromising the entire network. ~ James Scott, Senior Fellow, Institute For Critical Infrastructure Technology

We want to detect malware, regardless of its source or purpose. Politics don't even enter the discussion, nor should they. Any malware, even targeted, can get out of hand and cause 'collateral damage' to machines that aren't the intended victim. ~ Mikko Hypponen

Hacking a national election is simple. Exploit a vulnerability in the manufacturer's network, poison the tabulation software update with self-deleting malware and let the manufacturer send to their field reps and election consultants who update the election systems. ~ James Scott, Senior Fellow, Institute For Critical Infrastructure Technology