A group of leading IT security vendors have teamed up to devise a new standard for testing the effectiveness of their products.

Panda, AV-Test, Symantec, Kaspersky and F-Secure have formed the Anti-malware Testing Taskforce to help users of their software to better compare one system with another.

The new methodology will be based on behavioural analysis, which replicates how a PC would deal with a threat.

Most comparisons of security software look at the signature databases – the information used to recognise viruses and other malware from their “signature” or identifiable characteristics. Behavioural analysis provides a better evaluation of the product’s effectiveness, according to Panda.

The formation of the group follows a series of largely unpublicised meetings in Iceland, Vienna and Seoul, and initial proposals for testing are due to be published by the end of this year.

Panda said that other organisations have been invited to join, and a management team will be put together next month to design a testing plan that will allow for better comparisons of members’ products.