We recently held an educational event at San Francisco State University, introducing computer science students to the concept of malware and the security industry's challenges in combatting malware. Our seminar gave students a first look at the many common types of malware, how malware has evolved over time, and how antivirus vendors work to detect malware.
Benny Czarny, our CEO and Founder, spoke to a large group of students at San Francisco State, discussing several aspects of malware: how malware is created, why malware is created, how malware spreads and how it sneaks its way onto a device.
Benny introduced the problem of detecting malware and the varying detection rates of multiple antivirus engines during a malware outbreak. He also showed several methods that are currently used by security vendors, including comparing the performance of static and dynamic malware analysis. With these studies, students were able to see real-life examples of the challenges associated with detecting malware.
As part of our effort to help students learn about the importance and challenges of the security industry, Benny also introduced OPSWAT's first ever programming competition, which gives students a chance to try their hand at building applications to detect malware using OPSWAT's Metascan Online API.
Dr. Barry Levine, a Professor at San Francisco State University, helped organize the event at SF State and commented: "The seminar was well received by the graduate and undergraduate students in attendance; Benny provided an in-depth discussion of malware, including relevant definitions, types of malware, historical perspective, and the human perspective (e.g. originators of malware and reasons they develop malware)."
Video of Benny's presentation at SF State is available on YouTube, and we encourage you to check it out and share with aspiring antivirus programmers!
