Overview
Anti malware products have become a key element of information system protection against current threats. Testing how effective these products are at protecting the end-users and their computers is therefore crucial, whether it is to improve product quality (engineering testing) or to aid users in making better decisions about their acquisition and operation (certification and comparative testing). However designing and conducting relevant anti-malware tests producing significant and accurate results is a complex question. First of all, anti-malware products must be tested not only in varying operating conditions and environment, but also against a constantly evolving threat, driven by malware creators whose goal is to make them perform poorly. Second, the evolving complexity and variety of malware, both in terms of propagation methods and ultimate uses has rendered the problem of proper testing much more difficult with time. Long gone are the days when anti-malware performance could be accurately measured by the traditional method of exposing them to a list of malware file samples containing most if not all of the known malware variants. Today, the sheer number of known malware samples, their extensive use of the Internet and the Web, and in many cases the necessity for human intervention for propagation make this approach much less satisfactory. On the other hand, many traditional anti-malware products have in fact migrated towards dynamic protection services, with anti-malware vendors constantly updating threat databases and signatures, which are being consulted on-demand by locally installed products; the so-called anti-malware "in-the-cloud" solutions. Testing the efficacy of such new types of products and services under relevant and repeatable conditions constitutes a formidable technical, operational and even economical challenge.
The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), regrouping key players from the anti-malware industry including product vendors, testers, security experts and technology publishers, fully recognizes the technical challenges posed by testing in the current context. It also acknowledges the need to re-evaluate traditional testing approaches in the current context, to potentially develop new approaches to testing, while providing an open forum for discussion on these issues including the academic community, regulatory bodies and government, and groups representing the interests of end-users. To that effect the AMTSO in collaboration with the IEEE are co-sponsoring and organizing the First Workshop on Anti-malware Testing Research. The aim of this workshop is to bring together experts from the industry in contact with academic researchers in order to identify and define the important technical problems associated with anti-malware testing methodologies, and hopefully helping to establish collaborations on potential research projects attempting to find solutions to these problems.
Call for paper
The organizers of the workshop solicit papers discussing the technical and operational difficulties of anti-malware testing. This may include surveys and position papers, proposals for innovative approaches, quantitative analysis of testing, and field reports or research results on testing. The following is a non-exhaustive list of topics that may be covered:
- Static file sample testing ("On-demand testing")
- Malware sample storage and labelling
- Sample selection for static testing
- Dynamic testing using malicious URL
- URL samples selection
- Internal testing for product improvement
- User-experience evaluation and testing
- Comparative testing
- Remediation testing
- Automated testing facilities
- Testing with human subjects
- Testing "in-the-cloud" anti-malware products
- Measuring anti-malware vendor responsiveness ("time to protect")
- Test results interpretation and validation
- Economics of anti-malware testing
Paper Submissions
Submitted papers must not substantially overlap papers that have been published or that are simultaneously submitted to a journal or a conference with publically available proceedings. Papers must be written in English. Maximum paper length will be 6-8 printed pages in IEEE double-column style, in PDF format. Authors of accepted papers must register for the workshop (minimum one registration per paper) and guarantee that their papers will be presented at the workshop. Conference content will be submitted for inclusion into IEEE Xplore as well as other Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) databases. All paper submissions will be handled through the Easy Chair conference management system: See instructions at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=water2013.
Important dates
| Submission deadline : | The submission deadline is extended to August 8, 2013 |
| Notification to Authors : | September 9, 2013 |
| Camera-Ready Due : | October 7, 2013 |
Registration Information
The registration fees for the workshop are as follows:
| IEEE members : | $200 |
| Non IEEE members : | $250 |
| Students : | $100 |
In addition to providing access to the workshop sessions, the registration fees also cover breakfast, lunch and coffee break beverage and snack during the workshop.
Proof of IEEE membership is required for the workshop attendees who
register as IEEE members. Likewise, students are required to show a valid
student ID or other proof that you are currently a student.
Registration is closed.
Venue and accommodation
The workshop will be hosted at Hilton Montreal Bonaventure Hotel. We have reserved a block of rooms for the special rate of $182 per night for the workshop attendees. The rates are subject to 3.5% Occupancy tax, 5% GST, plus 9.975% Provencial tax per night. The rooms will be available on a first come, first serve basis.
Online Reservations
Click here to reserve a room at Hilton Montreal Bonaventure Hotel and enter the Group code: MALWO to obtain the special rate we negotiated for the workshop attendees.
Reservation can also be made via telephone by calling the toll free number 1-800-267-2575 or 514-878-2332 and request the rate negotiated for IEEE Workshop on Anti-Malware Testing Research (WATeR) attendees.
Organizing committee
General Chair
José Fernandez, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada
PC Chair
Carlton Davis, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada
Publicity Chair
Joan Calvet, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada
Program Committee
Anthony Arrott, Trend Micro, USA
Pierre-Marc Bureau, ESET Canada, Canada
Mohammad Mannan, Concordia University, Canada
Matthieu Couture, Public Safety Canada, Canada
Mourad Debbabi, Concordia University, Canada
José Fernandez, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada
Richard Ford, Florida Institute of Technology, USA
Jean-Yves Marion, LORIA, France
Andreas Marx, AV Test, Germany
Igor Muttik, McAfee, United Kingdom
Lisa Myers, Intego, USA
Stephen Neville, University of Victoria, Canada
Anil Somayaji, Carleton University, Canada
Randy Vaughn, Baylor University, USA