Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization
Encyclopedia
Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) is an international non-profit organization
set up in 2008 to address a perceived need for improvement in the quality, relevance and objectivity of anti-malware
testing methodologies.
, with strategic and other input from an Advisory Board, and six committees to handle specific operations such as membership, fees, PR
and so on.
It also organizes workshops three times a year: discussion and generation of guidelines documents are a major by-product of these sessions.
indicates that there has been lively and sometimes acerbic debate, suggesting that the public, the wider security community and even testers find it hard to trust an organization whose membership includes a preponderance of security vendors.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
set up in 2008 to address a perceived need for improvement in the quality, relevance and objectivity of anti-malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
testing methodologies.
Stated Objectives
According to the AMTSO web site, the organization's charter currently lists the following objectives:- 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.
Organization
AMTSO is administered by an elected (and unpaid) Board of DirectorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, with strategic and other input from an Advisory Board, and six committees to handle specific operations such as membership, fees, PR
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
and so on.
Membership
While it grew out of discussions between security vendors and security product testing organizations, membership of AMTSO is also open to academics, reviewers, publications, and does include some individual members. However, the high cost of full membership generally discourages individual members and small organizations from joining, and since early 2011, the organization has offered a much cheaper subscription rate that doesn't, however, offer full voting rights.Achievements
The organization has created some potentially useful resources for testers, including a page that flags relevant papers and other resources outside AMTSO, and a repository of guidelines documents for the benefit of aspiring testers on a wide range of topics.It also organizes workshops three times a year: discussion and generation of guidelines documents are a major by-product of these sessions.
Controversy
The organization's blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
indicates that there has been lively and sometimes acerbic debate, suggesting that the public, the wider security community and even testers find it hard to trust an organization whose membership includes a preponderance of security vendors.