After 33 years, Bernardo Quintero made it his mission to find the person who changed his life — the anonymous programmer behind a computer virus that had infected his university long ago.
The virus, known as Virus Málaga, was mostly harmless, but the challenge of defeating it ignited Quintero’s passion for cybersecurity, ultimately leading him to establish VirusTotal, a startup acquired by Google in 2012. This acquisition turned Málaga into a major tech hub as Google set up its flagship European cybersecurity center there.
All this stemmed from a small piece of malware created by someone Quintero had never known. Driven by nostalgia and gratitude, Quintero began his search earlier this year. He reached out to Spanish media for help in finding clues and revisited the virus’s code, seeking insights he might have overlooked at 18. Eventually, he cracked the case and shared the bittersweet conclusion in a viral LinkedIn post.
The journey started back in 1992 when a young Quintero’s teacher challenged him to create an antivirus for the 2610-byte program that had spread throughout Málaga’s Polytechnic School. “That challenge in my first year at university sparked a deep interest in computer viruses and security, and without it, my path might have been very different,” Quintero told TechCrunch.
Quintero’s programmer instincts played a key role in his search. Earlier this year, he stepped down from his managerial position to “go back to the cave, to the basement of Google.” He remained at the company but returned to hands-on coding and experimenting without managerial responsibilities.
This tinkering approach led him to revisit Virus Málaga for details he might have missed before. Initially, he uncovered fragments of a signature, but thanks to another security expert, he found a later version of the virus that contained a clearer clue: “KIKESOYYO.” Translated, “Kike soy yo” means “I am Kike,” a common nickname for “Enrique.”
Around the same time, Quintero received a direct message from a man, now the general digital transformation coordinator for the Spanish city of Cordoba, who claimed to have witnessed a classmate from Polytechnic School create the virus. Many details matched up, but one particularly stood out: the virus’s hidden message, known as a payload in cybersecurity speak, condemned the Basque terrorist group ETA—something Quintero had never revealed.
The tipster then provided Quintero with a name — Antonio Astorga — but also informed him that he had passed away.
This news hit Quintero hard; he would never get the chance to ask Antonio about “Kike.” But he kept pursuing the leads, and a plot twist emerged when Antonio’s sister revealed that his full name was actually Antonio Enrique. To his family, he was Kike.
Cancer took Antonio Enrique Astorga away before Quintero could thank him in person, but the story doesn’t end there. Quintero’s LinkedIn post highlights the legacy of “a brilliant colleague who deserves to be recognized as a pioneer of cybersecurity in Málaga” — not just for guiding Quintero in his career.
According to a friend, Astorga’s virus aimed solely to convey his anti-terrorist message and showcase his programming skills. Like Quintero, Astorga’s love for tech never faded, leading him to become a computing teacher at a secondary school that named its IT classroom in his honor.
Astorga’s legacy continues beyond the classroom. His son, Sergio, recently graduated with a degree in software engineering and has an interest in cybersecurity and quantum computing—a meaningful connection for Quintero. “Being able to close that circle now, and to see new generations building on it, is deeply meaningful to me,” Quintero remarked.
For Quintero, who believes their paths will intersect again, Sergio represents “the talent being formed in Málaga today.” This development is a direct result of VirusTotal laying the groundwork for what became the Google Safety Engineering Center (GSEC) and fostering collaborations with the University of Málaga, solidifying the city’s status as a cybersecurity talent hub.
