AMTSO to start analysis of anti-malware reviews

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY: The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) has announced that it intends to provide public analysis of anti-malware reviews.

This analysis will be done by comparing the testing methodology used in product reviews to AMTSO’s standards for anti-malware testing. The primary goal of this analysis is to provide consumers with information on the accuracy and reliability of product reviews, and to improve the overall quality of anti-malware testing.

AMTSO Board Member, Stuart Taylor of Sophos said, “AMTSO wants to promote great testing that is meaningful, accurate and, above all, useful to customers. Sadly many published tests range from misguided to misleading. Just as anti-malware companies hunt out and eliminate rogue anti-malware software, so AMTSO needs to hunt out and eliminate rogue tests and reviews.”

At a meeting in Budapest, Hungary last week, AMTSO members adopted the review analysis process, and also adopted two papers to provide additional guidance to the security industry. The first paper, “Suggested Methods for the Validation of Samples,” offers advice on what constitutes a valid sample that should be used in tests. The other paper, “Best Practices for Testing In-the-Cloud Security Products,” provides an overview of the problems faced in conducting reliable and repeatable tests of security products and offers advice on how to approach the testing to minimize the problems this new technology brings to testing.

“Cloud based security is a current industry ‘buzz’ topic and potentially has significant implications for the security industry and ultimately for the customers. Testing the performance of anti-malware solutions ‘in-the-cloud’ is an important paradigm shift from the traditional methods of testing,” said AMTSO Board member Andrew Lee, of K7 Computing.

With the adoption of these three proposals, AMTSO continues to deliver on its charter to improve the quality of anti-malware testing. “AMTSO brings together an unprecedented representation of anti-malware experts from across the globe, and, with the adoption of the latest set of papers, AMTSO continues to realize its potential to have a significant and positive impact on our industry,” said Gabor Szappanos, of VirusBuster, host of the AMTSO conference in Budapest.