CyberSoft News For December 2005
Interview with Peter Radatti, President and CEO
Interview with Peter Radatti, President and CEO
Pete Radatti, President and CEO, speaks about the CyberSoft Operating
Corporation, its origins and products including VSTK, VFind, and SIE. The 8
minute interview is currently available on our web site at www.cybersoft.com/training/index.
shtml. It explains the functions, features and tools available in CyberSoft
products. It describes how the features benefit different systems including
Unix, Linux and Mac OS X. In addition, the interview goes into detail how the
CyberSoft Operating Corporation developed from a virus scanning company to
providing powerful and effective tools for entire systems. The interview
expounds the many features of CyberSoft products. After viewing the interview
and another video explaining the recommended use of VSTK on a File System, you
will better understand CyberSoft.
Successful Release of SafeInternetEmail (SIE) Turbo
SafeInternetEmail (SIE) Turbo is an upgrade from the CyberSoft SIE tool
currently available. In addition to blocking spam using VDL and Bayesian
technology, SIE Turbo also provides effective discretionary e-mail blocking by
allowing customers to create their own patterns. The uniqueness of SIE Turbo is
that it uses the VFind Daemon. This improves overall performance and reduces
memory requirements simultaneously, resulting in better throughput, especially
for larger volume customers. SIE Turbo provides access to the new VDL Update
system, similar to the VSTK products. These new features highlight
CyberSoft’s commitment to continuous improvement in our products.
As CyberSoft releases new versions of SIE, prior versions will gradually
become unsupported. All current SIE customers with an up-to-date Maintenance &
Support agreement will receive an SIE Turbo upgrade at no cost.
Virus Definition QA Process at CyberSoft
Very few people know what the quality assurance (QA) program is for virus
definitions at CyberSoft. This article will just skim the surface and discuss
some of the formalized test processes that are in place. QA is an ever evolving
process with constant need for improvement. Generally, QA systems are very
taxing on a computer and multiple dedicated systems and custom software are
involved.
When a new virus definition (VDL) is created, either by an automated process
or by hand, it is reviewed by a trained Virus Analyst. The Virus Analyst will
always compare the completed definition against the actual sample. The virus
definition update is then added to the VDL library and submitted for batch
processing by CyberSoft's Automated Quality Testing (AQT) system. The AQT system
tests for parse errors, false hits and wild viruses for multiple versions of
VFind. If the definitions pass the AQT system, they are submitted to CyberSoft's
Automated VDL Posting (AVP) system. The AVP system assures that the definitions
are accurately posted for download. It also generates cryptographic MD5 hash
signatures so customers can verify the integrity of the download at their site.
Every night, our VDL Testing process (VDT) downloads the definitions from
CyberSoft’s update site and runs a full test. The results are
automatically sent to senior management, engineering management and the Senior
Virus Analyst.
In addition to these internal tests, there are two different third party
testing organizations that perform formal testing. Both of these organizations
are recognized experts in the field of anti-virus testing. One organization
performs formal testing every two weeks. Results are sent to CyberSoft's senior
management, engineering management and the Senior Virus Analyst. The second
organization, West Coast Labs, performs Checkmark Level One testing and
publishes results at http://www.westcoastlabs.org. To quote
their web site, “Checkmark is a system, which certifies information
security products to real-world standards. The Checkmark System is a quality
testing and certification service with established, independent standards on
product effectiveness. It is a global service, which benefits both technology
developers and information security buyers and decision-makers. Checkmark
standards are continuously being developed to ensure that they are an accurate
reflection of real-world situations and changing technology advances. Products
registered in the Checkmark System are tested at regular intervals against the
published test criteria.”
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