There is a large group of Internet security-minded folks gathered in D.C. (USA) this week for the annual Anti-Spyware Coalition (ASC) public workshop event, including two of our own from Lavasoft. This year's workshop addresses the creation of a chain of trust online and how 'good actors' can cooperate in order to protect users.

Yesterday ASC announced a new initiative to partner with the two other major cyber security organizations, National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and StopBadware.org in order to bring together security vendors, researchers, government agencies, Internet companies, network providers, advocacy and education groups in an effort to not only address, but also stem the alarming rise in malware distribution.

Collaboration and cross-cooperation is key if there is success to be had. We believe strongly in cooperative efforts because it is the absolute best way to ensure sure that computer users, those using Ad-Aware as well as those using other security programs, are protected. Of course we have a commercial aspect to our business, but we also have never-ending discussions here internally to discuss the ethics of our business and to best protect computer users the world over. As a result, we share the malware applications that we detect with other like-minded companies and organizations - who in turn do the same for us. That 'ups' the game for everyone, and it is you, the computer user, that wins in the end.