Leading companies form an anti-malware testing coalition
The increasing mismatch between what anti-malware technologies actually do, and the testing methodologies used to evaluate them, lead forty major companies in the field to form a new organization dedicated to promulgating universally adopted standards and guidelines for anti-malware testings
Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, in Spain’s Basque Country, is not our favorite building — but then, Frank Gehry is not our favorite architect. Just compare the clean, restrained, disciplined lines of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum in New York to Gehry’s curvaceous, free-form, sculptural style: The two structures are separated by four decades and one ocean, but they might as well be from different planets. And talking about Bilbao: More than forty security software technologists and anti-malware testers from around the world recently met in Bilbao to formalize the charter of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization, or AMTSO. The formation of AMTSO has been driven by industry-wide concern about the increasing mismatch between what anti-malware technologies actually do, and the testing methodologies used to evaluate them. As anti-malware solutions become more complex, many existing tests are unable to evaluate product effectiveness properly, resulting in product reviews which are sometimes incomplete, inaccurate, and even misleading. AMTSO says it is focused on addressing the need for improvement in the objectivity, quality, and relevance of testing methodologies. The organization also aims to promulgate universally adopted standards and guidelines for anti-malware testing. The vision for AMTSO was formed in May 2007 during the International Antivirus Testing Workshop in Reykjavik, Iceland, and developed further during the Antivirus Asia Researchers Conference in Seoul, South Korea last December. AMTSO will:
* Provide a forum for discussions related to the testing of anti-malware and related products
* Develop and publicize objective standards and best practices for testing of anti-malware and related products
* Promote education and awareness of issues related to the testing of anti-malware and related products
* Provide tools and resources to aid standards-based testing methodologies
* Provide analysis and review of current and future testing of anti-malware and related products
Hosted by Bilbao-based Panda Security, the meeting in Bilbao included representatives from the industry’s leading companies and testing organizations.
