Taking Brain home

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 14, 2011

Short film features Mikko Hyppönen returning first PC virus to its birthplace.

Anti-malware vendor F-Secure released a short documentary film this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the first PC virus, Brain.

In the film, Chief Research Officer Mikko Hyppönen - a natural in front of the camera - tells the story of the two brothers, Basit Farooq Alvi and Amjad Farooq Alvi, who wrote the virus, and travels to Pakistan to meet and interview them.

The beautifully shot 10-minute documentary depicts a pair of very decent businessmen who had no malicious intentions when they created the first piece of PC malware and who express disappointment and disapproval at the way in which malware writing and distribution has snowballed into a major criminal industry.

If there were an Oscars for short, documentary-style anti-malware films this would surely be in the running, and if you have a spare 10 minutes the film is highly recommended viewing.

The film can be viewed on F-Secure's Brain mini-site here, which also has some background information about the virus and takes a look behind the scenes at the making of the short film.

Posted on 14 March 2011 by Virus Bulletin

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