New organisation ensures software testing standards meet the changing needs of the global malware threat environment.
AMTSO, the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organisation, has announced its official formation and dedication to promulgating universally adopted standards and guidelines for anti-malware testing. The formation follows a meeting of more than 40 security software technologists and anti-malware testers from around the world, including Sophos, in Bilbao, Spain recently.“No-one is in any doubt that the malware problem, driven by financial gain and organised criminal gangs, has become more serious in recent years,” said Stuart Taylor, SophosLabs manager, Sophos. “Fortunately, security vendors have developed more advanced methods to proactively counter these threats with greater efficiency than ever before. However, traditional tests are becoming increasingly irrelevant as they fail to take into account the new technologies built into security solutions. One of AMTSO's objectives is to help drive better real-world tests for everyone, which will benefit all computer users looking for the highest level of protection.” According to AMTSO’s website, 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 that are sometimes incomplete, inaccurate and misleading. AMTSO is focused on addressing the global need for improvement in the objectivity, quality and relevance of testing methodologies. |
