Antivirus software companies and software testers created a new organization
Monday with the goal of providing consistent information about the effectiveness
of antivirus products.

The distribution of malware -- including viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, and
Web sites exploiting weaknesses in Internet browsers -- is now being driven
by organized crime for financial gain, and poses an ever more serious threat.

Anti-malware software developers have developed methods to block these threats,
but traditional antivirus tests are becoming irrelevant because they don't take
such methods into account, according to Stuart Taylor of anti-malware software
vendor Sophos.

Last year, developers of antivirus software called into question a batch of
antivirus tests conducted by independent organizations when showed their products
failing to detect many security threats. At a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland,
last May, representatives of F-Secure, Panda Software and Symantec decided to
design a new testing plan.

The creation of the Anti-Malware
Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) is one of the fruits of that work.
It brings together around 40 developers and testers of anti-malware tools, with
the aim of hosting discussions about testing, publicizing testing standards,
and providing tools and resources for such testing.

Organizations present at the inaugural meeting included antivirus software
testers such as AV-Comparatives
and AV-Test.org, and antivirus
software developers including BitDefender,
F-Secure, Kaspersky
Lab, McAfee, Sophos,
Symantec, Trend
Micro and Panda
Software, which hosted the meeting. IBM
and Microsoft also attended.

IDG News Service

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