AMTSO members summit covers controversial issues

Expert body gets to grips with string of difficult subjects.

A meeting of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organisation (AMTSO) took place this week, with leading experts from around the world gathering to discuss some of the thorniest issues affecting the accurate testing of security solutions. Among the subjects covered were the appropriate use of the organisation's name and reputation by testers, and the long-running, ever-controversial issue of the creation of new malware samples for testing purposes.

AMTSO The meeting was held in Prague, Czech Republic, and hosted by local security firm AVG. It brought together more than three dozen representatives from many of the world's leading security firms as well as several major testing bodies. During lengthy and occasionally heated debates, the group analysed the progress of the review process instigated by the group with the aim of commenting on the quality of published reports, with particular reference to allowing testers to claim compliance with the official AMTSO principles.

The second day of the meeting saw work proceeding on a number of new papers offering guidelines and advice on testing issues, but the day was dominated by the issue of malware creation, with all angles of the hotly debated topic closely considered as the process of drafting a definitive document on the subject reached its final stages.

Final voting saw the approval of the group's progress on this, along with ratification of a new document on testing network-based solutions to join the growing range of resources made available to testers on the AMTSO website, here.

Comment on the meeting and the issues raised there is available from AMTSO board members Stuart Taylor of Sophos here and David Harley of ESET here.

16 October 2009

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