VIDEO: Cybercrime expert Mikko Hypponen on government, criminal and hacktivist attacks

Mikko Hypponen, a cybercrime expert, examines three kinds of cyber attackers in the world -- criminals, hacker activists ('hacktivists') and governments. Criminal hackers are motivated by profit and there are several millionaires who have made fortunes stealing bank funds and personal account information. Hacktivists are motivated by raising awareness and fighting against oppressive institutions, much like Anonymous is fond of doing. Government hacking, however, is far more insidious. While there are obviously tyrannical examples like Iran and Egypt monitoring citizens through expensive programs that can bypass the privacy security of even Google, he cautions that even supposedly democratic Western nations like Germany are guilty of attacking citizens too. Mikko believes we must remain especially vigilant against online versions of phone tapping, for example. It is not a question of privacy vs security, he says, but of freedom vs control.