Security vendors team up for better product testing
Specialist antivirus companies hope to devise a new methodology to enable users to compare their software. The group of leading IT security vendors have teamed up to devise a new standard for testing the effectiveness of their products.
Panda, AV-Test, Symantec, Kaspersky and F-Secure have formed the Anti-malware Testing Taskforce to help users of their software to better compare one system with another. The new methodology will be based on behavioural analysis, which replicates how a PC would deal with a threat.
At the moment, most comparisons of security software look at the signature databases – the information used to recognise viruses and other malware from their “signature” or identifiable characteristics. Behavioural analysis is believed to provide a better evaluation of the product’s effectiveness, according to Panda.
“This sounds like a good industry initiative which involves many respected names” comments Eximium’s Derrick Cameron. “Anything that either raises the profile of security or makes it easier for business to identify the best product for them has got to be welcomed” he adds.
The formation of the group follows several low profile meetings in Vienna Iceland and Seoul. The initial proposal for testing is due to be published by the end of this year. It is believed that other organisations have been invited to join, and a management team will be put together next month to design a testing template which allows a clear standard for testing.
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 8th, 2007 at 1:12 pm and is filed under IT Advice, IT Solutions, News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
