First published: 31st August 1998
The first meeting of AVAR (Asian Anti-Virus Researchers) will be held in Hong Kong on 4th September. AVAR was formed in June this year to improve the co-operation between anti-virus researchers in the region. The group is not affiliated to particular anti-virus software, and includes technical staff from developers and distributors of different products.
AVAR was the idea of Seiji Murakami, he established the first Japanese antivirus vendor in
1985 but he is now an independant researcher at JCSR (Japan Computer Security Research
centre). Mr. Murakami commented, "I am making efforts to contribute the growth of antivirus
industry in Asian region as well as in Japan. I hope that AVAR will greatly encourage
more
participation to international antivirus activities". The organisation has a code of conduct and
is committed to improving members knowledge and skills in order to contribute to the
worldwide prevention of incidents and damage caused by computer viruses.
Most AVAR interaction is though a private e-mail list, but the members are anticipating the benefits of the first face-to-face meeting. On the agenda are reports of the local virus situation from each participant, and more general discussions on upcoming virus threats.
The AVAR members are:
Allan Dyer (Yui Kee, Hong Kong)
Charles Ahn (Dr. Ahn's Laboratories, Korea)
Richard Ku (Trend Micro, Taiwan)
Seok-Chul Kwon (HAURI, Korea)
Motoaki Yamamura (Symantec, Japan)
Yoshihiro Yasuda (Network Associates, Japan)
Ikuo Yamashita (Yamada, Japan)
Motoi Endo (JCSR, Japan)
Seiji Murakami (JCSR, Japan)