A standardised testing procedure for anti-malware products is now a step closer with the announcement that 40 software firms have agreed guidelines on the subject.

The document, a charter for the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organisation (Amtso) should, in the long-term guarantee that computer users are better protected against malicious software.

Amtso said that, as such software became more complex, many existing tests were unable to fully evaluate a product's effectiveness.

Pavel Baudis of ALWIL Software, said: "We are inspired that so many anti-malware companies have joined together through Amtso to improve the quality of product testing in general, to ultimately provide consumers with accurate and reliable information."

Malware can be a real problem for firms with research by Websense indicating that 45 per cent of businesses have had their IT systems infected by a virus at some point in the past.

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent).