F-Secure is one of the leading companies devoted to the study and prevention of computer viruses, spam, and other types of malware. Last week we were lucky enough to get Mikko Hypponen, the company's Director of Anti-Virus Research, to join Scott and I in a discussion of the current status of the virus problem.

Mikko first reviews his background and how he became involved in the study and prevention of malware. He discusses some of his experiences with both worms and early viruses and reviews some of the problems trying to prevent spam. He talks about how spammers are still successful enough to stay in business, usually because users continue to be taken in by their schemes.

Mikko shares his experiences on how new viruses are handled as they appear and assesses the chances of ridding the tech world of malware completely. He also gives some suggestions on how to combat some of the biggest problems that affect the average user.

This was a fascinating interview to conduct and I think you'll enjoy it whether or not you're a security geek.