The AVAR conference 2012 in Hangzhou, China
IT security specialists discuss and shape their industry’s future
This year’s AVAR Conference is covering a lot of trending topics ranging from mobile malware to botnets. Seji Murakami, Chairman of AVAR, traditionally opened the conference with a warm welcome speech. This year, the keynote speeches were focused on Android security product testing (AV-Test), preventive actions concerning malware in China (CERT China) and malware trends (Microsoft).
IT security specialists now gathered for the 15th edition of the conference and it always tried to highlight the specific problems related to Asian malware. One of the main topics over here is “working all together against cybercrime” which is, unfortunately, not always an easy thing to do.
If you are interested in the agenda and information about the other topics discussed, you can find a lot of information on the AVAR Conference 2012 website. Furthermore, more info about the next conference’s venue and future topics will also follow on the official AVAR homepage.
This article can be found also on the G Data Blog.
This website is 17 years old!
Back in 1995 at the end of August I started this website as one of the first anti-virus and security sites in the world. Today I nearly forgot this anniversary. The reason for this is that the speed of news and amounts of malware related problems has been growing like hell. The amounts of data and malware we see these days are excessive. I am personally involved with all this stuff much more (24/24 7 days a week) these days compared to 1989 when it all started for me. The hacks we see these days are worrying. The mentality of people seems to be changed dramatically and hacking (read ‘cracking’) seems to be as normal as having dinner these days. Cyberwarfare, cybersabotage and cyberespionage are now also part of the problem. I wish I could say over 17 years: ‘Yes we’ve done it, we (the AV and security industry) solved the malware problem’ but I’m now sure that this is probably wishful thinking and never will be the case. However this battle isn’t over yet. Malware writers, hackers and other cybercriminals be prepared that also the laws are changing, maybe you could start thinking about finally turning you’re skills into the good direction. I hope nations will think twice when writing nation-state driven malware or even thinking of hacking back the hackers. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind (Mahatma Gandhi).
Several important events in one month
4 fruitful meetings and thriving events: G Data at AMTSO, RSA , CeBIT and Infosecurity Belgium
The end of February and March have always been dedicated to several traditionally important security industry events of the year. This year, it started with an AMTSO Meeting and was followed by the RSA conference, the biggest IT security conference in the US, in the beautiful city of San Francisco. CeBIT, is still one of the most important events in the world for the digital industry, held in Hannover, Germany. The RSA conference and CeBIT traditionally have a lot of other, minor security related meetings where we also participated in.
AMTSO, CARO and EICAR – conferences and events – an overview
The beginning of May was dedicated to three traditionally important security industry events of the year. It started with an AMTSO Meeting, then the CARO Workshop followed and it ended with the EICAR Conference. I participated for G Data in all of them!
You can find the original posting of this article at the G Data Security blog.
G Data is one of the members of AMTSO (www.amtso.org), an organization currently comprised of around 40 members, representing testers, vendors, academics and publishers involved in anti-malware research. I was at the last AMTSO members’ meeting which was held in Prague. As always, a lot of work was done during the workshops: The document “AMTSO Guidelines on Facilitating Testability” was initiated at the suggestion of testers and developed jointly by testers and vendors. The new paper is the latest in a succession of guidelines and best practice documents already published. The AMTSO members also agreed to expand the range of documentation the organization produces to include more educational material. They also introduced changes to the voting procedure to ensure that documents cannot be approved by the members unless a majority of testers agree that the content is up to standard. This step mentioned last is designed to avoid any possibility of bias in favor of any group within the organization.
CeBIT 2011 and G Data
CeBIT starts on March 1st in Hannover, showcasing the latest developments in the IT industry. G Data is using the largest IT trade show in the world this year to launch the next generation of security for businesses and home users. G Data presents this year’s trade fair highlight: Generation 11 of its network solutions, equipped with a powerful backup module in all Enterprise versions. Also being revealed is G Data MobileSecurity, a security solution for Android phones. Mobile phone owners will thus be able to effectively secure their mobiles against malware. Another first that will be announced in Hannover is G Data CloudSecurity. This free browser plug-in blocks infected websites,making surfing the internet more secure. Besides presenting these innovations, the provider from Bochum, Germany is also offering a comprehensive programme in the G Data Arena, Hall 11, Booth D35.
I personally will take part in the Global Conferences during a panel session about the importance of security which is detailed below. It’s an interesting line up of experienced speakers, CEO’s or VP’s which will be sitting next to me. I will be available for interviews and chats the whole week (minus Saturday) at our booth. By the way I like my new title: Global Security Officer. ;-)
