New security software testing standards body formed

AMTSO to promote cross-industry debate and higher standards in testing.

A collaborative group from across the security industry has officially been founded this week, aiming to provide a forum for discussion on matters related to testing security software. The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organisation (AMTSO) will also create best-practices guidelines for testing, educate both testers and users on testing issues, and provide resources to enable more comprehensive and accurate testing.

The formation of AMTSO comes after initial informal discussions took place at a dedicated anti-malware testing workshop in Iceland last year and again at the annual VB and AVAR conferences. The details of the group’s foundation were thrashed out at a meeting in Bilbao last month, which was attended by representatives of a wide range of security firms, testing bodies and other interested parties.

Over 40 industry experts joined the discussions in Bilbao, setting a framework for founding the group and defining its aims and requirements, as well as forming committees to push those aims forward. An official website for the group is now live, and further developments are expected after an inaugural technical meeting in the next few months.

‘VB stands firmly behind the aims of the AMTSO, and is very pleased to see this demonstration of cross-industry support for high quality, independent testing,’ said

John Hawes

, Technical Consultant at Virus Bulletin. ‘While other commitments prevented us from being represented in Bilbao, we have been party to much of the preliminary discussion on these matters, and hope to be closely involved with the group in future. I’m sure this collaboration between so many minds will help us improve the service we offer our readers, and ensure a bright future for all forms of security software testing. The knock-on results of this should soon be seen in improved standards in security products, and in a safer online world for us all.’

The AMTSO website is at

www.amtso.org

.

Posted on 04 February 2008 by

Virus Bulletin