The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) was founded in May 2008 as an international non-profit association that focuses on the addressing the global need for improvement in the objectivity, quality and relevance of anti-malware testing methodologies. AMTSO membership is open to academics, reviewers, publications, testers and vendors , subject to guidelines determined by AMTSO.

AMTSO’s Charter

AMTSO’s preliminary charter focuses on the following five areas:

• Providing a forum for discussions related to the testing of anti-malware and related products;
• Developing and publicizing objective standards and best practices for testing of anti-malware and related products;
• Promoting education and awareness of issues related to the testing of anti-malware and related products;
• Providing tools and resources to aid standards-based testing methodologies; and,
• Providing analysis and review of current and future testing of anti-malware and related products.

Request For Public Comment

AMTSO General Principles AMTSO has released for public comment a preliminary listing of general principles regarding anti-malware testing. These principles have been developed by AMTSO members, and represent the basic guidelines required to be followed for any valid anti-malware test. AMTSO has posted these principles for public comment, and all interested parties and individuals are invited to contribute their opinions and questions. The public comment period will end Friday, October 17, 2008. AMTSO members will make a final vote on approval of the principles at the next member meeting, scheduled to be held October 30 – 31, 2008 in London, England. You can find information about proposed guidelines and how to leave feedback on our blog. The guidelines are now available in the Documents area of this site.

http://amtso.org/documents/cat_view/13-amtso-principles-and-guidelines.html

AMTSO Dynamic Testing Guidelines

AMTSO members are in the process of finalizing guidelines for dynamic anti-malware testing, and plan to release the same for public comment in the third calendar quarter this year. Parties particularly interested in dynamic testing should contact AMTSO for more information about involvement with the drafting process.

Coming Events

VIRUS BULLETIN, 10/01/08, Ottawa, Canada
Two members of AMTSO’s Board of Directors, Andrew Lee, CEO of ByteMatrix Limited, and Igor Muttik, Senior Avert Labs Architect for McAfee Corporation, and representatives from several AMTSO members, including IBM Corporation, Panda Labs, Kaspersky Lab, Avira, ESET, AVG, Trend Micro and Symantec, will be presenting on various topics.

AAVAR, 12/12/08, New Delhi, India
Righard J. Zwienenberg, Chief Research Officer, Norman. President, AMTSO, will present Anti Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO): The Status Right Now

RSA, 10/27/08, London, England
AMTSO members will present on The Need To Adopt Standards-Based Anti-Malware Testing Methodologies

AMTSO III-08, 10/30/08, London, England:
Exact location and registration information will be circulated to members when available.