Virus defs for sale?

[suityou01]

Is it possible a company actually makes a base list of virus defs that all these 2 bit anti virus programs use? How does a little one man band compete? Do you have to start from scratch? How can it bbe possible to do this as it would take a long time to get something that was even 50% effective.

[RichardCranium]

You don't need to compete. The anti-virus vendors collaborate: they actively share virus definitions.

(A polyopoly that benefits from a perpetuation of the status quo? Surely not?)

[suityou01]

You don't need to compete. The anti-virus vendors collaborate: they actively share virus definitions.

(A polyopoly that benefits from a perpetuation of the status quo? Surely not?)

I can see it now.

Ring ring, ring ring, ring ring.

"Good morning, Kaspersky labs, how may I help"

"Hi I'm thinking of writing an antivirus program and wanted to share your virus defs"

Click.

"Hello? Hello?"

[RichardCranium]

I am absolutely sure I remember the F-Prot web site saying the anti-virus community share virus signatures. That would have been some years ago.

I subsequently saw the same thing on another anti-virus company's web site and so that re-enforced the message. It was to the effect of "they share signatures, not viruses, and each company jealously guards their source code so they perform with differng effectiveness depending upon their algorithms".

I now cannot find anything online to confirm my memory.

But I was pretty damn sure that if SY01 AntiVirus Co contacted the others and said "I have a database of virus signatures plus a few you don't have because I have access to xyz" then you were invited to join the happy band of collaborators.

But I might have made it all up in a happy dream about a utopian world that does not exist.

[RichardCranium]

Some links I found:

Reference to the "Viruses in the Wild" list.
http://www.avast.com/eng/viruses_in_the_wild.html

The WildList is currently being used as the basis for in-the-wild
virus testing and certification of anti-virus products by the ICSA,
Virus Bulletin and Secure Computing. Additionally, a virus collection
based upon The WildList is being used in an effort to standardize the
naming of common viruses.

The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research web site is disappointingly unhelpful.

But I think this www.wildlist.org/testing is the starting point.

[suityou01]

Some links I found:

Reference to the "Viruses in the Wild" list.
http://www.avast.com/eng/viruses_in_the_wild.html


The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research web site is disappointingly unhelpful.

But I think this www.wildlist.org/testing is the starting point.

That is fantastic work mate. I don't know how you did that. I was taking the wrong google angle clearly. This plan B of mine is still in its embrionic phase but I am rounding the corner with the firewall stuff so am looking to the anti-malware aspects. Top work. If it ever takes off and I can afford your rates it's a done deal. Trouble is it's taken me nearly two years to get this far.

The missus was giving me a reality check that the liklihood of being able to develop a product of this nature on my own before PCs become out dated is unlikely. I soldier on in ignorant optimism.

[krytonsheep]

It's probably a different angle, but Panda have a SDK which you could integrate in to your own software.