Security Vendor Question Accuracy of AV Tests
A set of standards to measure anti-virus effectiveness? Imagine that!...

Symantec, F-Secure, and Panda Software design a new testing plan to better reflect the capabilities of competing products

Antivirus software is frequently tested for performance, so picking a top product should be straightforward: Select the No. 1 vendor whose software kills off all of the evil things circulating on the Internet. You're good to go then, right? Not necessarily.

The increasing complexity of security software is causing vendors to gripe that current evaluations do not adequately test other technologies in the products designed to protect machines.

Relations between vendors and testing organizations are generally cordial but occasionally tense when a product fails a test. Representatives in both camps agree that the testing regimes need to be overhauled to give consumers a more accurate view of how different products compare.

"I don't think anyone believes the tests as they are run now ... are an accurate reflection of how one product relates to the other," said Mark Kennedy, an antivirus engineer with Symantec.

Representatives of Symantec, F-Secure, and Panda Software agreed last month at the International Antivirus Testing Workshop in Reykjavik, Iceland, to design a new testing plan that would better reflect the capabilities of competing products. They hope all security vendors will agree on a new test that can be applied industrywide, Kennedy said.

Read all about it here, courtesy of infoworld.com

Eric