Fighting malware and spam

Virus Bulletin

Virus Bulletin started in 1989 as a magazine dedicated to providing PC users with a regular source of intelligence about computer viruses, their prevention, detection and removal, and how to recover programs and data following an attack.

Virus Bulletin quickly became the leading specialist publication in the field of viruses and related malware.

Editorial independence has always been VB's prime concern. From the very first issue, VB has cut through the hype and remained uninfluenced by vendors' sales pitches and marketing babble. The aim of the magazine is to arm users with all the information they need to stay current with the latest developments in the anti-malware field.

The inaugural VB conference took place in 1991, its objectives were to present factual information about computer viruses, to demonstrate defensive procedures, to discuss probable future virus developments and countermeasures and to attempt to harmonise research efforts.

While the scope of the VB conference has widened to include all forms of malware and spam, the principal objectives of the conference remain unchanged today: to present factual information, demonstrate defensive procedures and discuss future developments and countermeasures, while providing an opportunity for experts in the anti-malware arena to share their research interests, discuss methods and technologies and set new standards, as well as meet with - and learn from - those who put their technologies into practice in the real world. Indeed, the VB conference has become a major highlight of the anti-malware calendar, with many of its regular attendees citing it as the anti-malware event of the year.

The people behind Virus Bulletin

Virus Bulletin is staffed by a small, hard-working team based in its offices in Oxfordshire, UK. Supporting the core team are a consultant Technical Editor and an Advisory Board comprising some of the world's leading anti-malware and anti-spam experts.

Helen Martin - Editor

After leaving Oxford University with a degree in Biology Helen became involved in the publishing industry. Starting out on academic journals in the fields of molecular biology, organometallic chemistry and materials science at Oxford University Press, followed by Elsevier Science, she then moved on to the more colourful and upbeat publication Audio Media - a trade magazine for the professional audio industry - and helped to start up Audio Media USA. After three years in the pro audio industry Helen moved into publishing on the Internet and worked for 19 months on the UK's leading online magazine for expectant and new parents, babyworld.co.uk. She took up the position of Editor of Virus Bulletin in June 2001. Helen Martin can be contacted at helen.martin@virusbtn.com.

John Hawes - Technical Consultant

John Hawes joined the VB team as Virus Bulletin's Technical Consultant in July 2006. John has responsibility for carrying out VB's comparative reviews, which feature the unique VB100 award scheme for anti-virus products. John also carries out standalone reviews of anti-malware products and is responsible for putting together VB's monthly virus prevalence tables. John Hawes can be contacted at john.hawes@virusbtn.com.

Allison Sketchley - Sales Executive

Having spent the majority of her working life in finance, with the last 7.5 years in credit control, Allison has decided to broaden her horizons to include sales. Joining Virus Bulletin in March 2007 she is responsible for the sales function for the whole suite of VB products and services including subscriptions, conference sponsorship, conference delegate places and VB100 licensing. Of the move to sales she feels it will make a refreshing change to contact people without having to demand payment all the time. Though, lest she forget her finance roots, she will maintain the accounting side of VB's operations too. Allison Sketchley can be contacted at allison.sketchley@virusbtn.com.

Simon Bates - Security Test Engineer

Simon Bates can be contacted at simon.bates@virusbtn.com.

Martijn Grooten - Web Developer

Martijn Grooten has a degree in mathematics from the Radboud University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He worked for the same university as a researcher in algebraic geometry for five years, before moving to England in the autumn of 2006. Here he decided to make web development, which until then had been a hobby, his profession. He joined Virus Bulletin in the beginning of 2007, where he is responsible for maintaining and developing the website and related technologies. Martijn Grooten can be contacted at martijn.grooten@virusbtn.com.

Morton Swimmer - Consultant Technical Editor

Morton Swimmer was born in New York City and raised there and in Hamburg, Germany. After a year studying in England, he went back to Hamburg to study computer security under Prof. Brunnstein, where in 1988, he co-founded the Virus Test Center. He started an anti-virus business in 1991, which was bought by S&S International UK, and later swallowed by Network Associates. Then in 1996, Morton joined IBM Research in New York to work on IBM Antivirus, which was bought a few years later by Symantec. The next switch was to IBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland to research the applicability of intrusion detection techniques in the anti-virus field with one of the world's leading research groups in intrusion detection. Somewhere along the way he got both his Bachelor and Diploma degrees, and is currently finalizing his PhD thesis on Malware intrusion detection.

Morton Swimmer can be contacted at teched@virusbtn.com

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