Botnets and viruses are something that University of
Wisconsin professor of computer sciences Paul Barford?s newly formed company
deals with on a daily basis.

Last year, Barford created Nemean, a company founded by a
group of about 30 alumni, called The Badger Alumni Capital Network.

?The group was formed over the course of 2007,? Nemean CEO
Phil Matthews said. ?The aim is to take a look at the intellectual property and
technology developed by professors at UW.?

Barford, working alongside a group of graduate students and
other colleagues, has created a product that can be used as an extra shield of
defense against viruses and botnets, which are sets of computers across the
Internet under the control of a person who does not own them, he said.

?We are interested in developing new technology for
identifying malicious behavior on the Internet and preventing that behavior,?
Barford said.

According to Barford, the software is designed to limit the
number of false positives that other antivirus software fails to catch.

UW Information Security Officer Jeffrey Savoy said false
positives occur because there are certain words, or attack signals, that
trigger a false alert to the system when used. These false positives will tell
the server there is a problem, even when legitimate activity is taking place.

There are a lot of existing programs that use an already
established set of attack signals. This program creates its own signals using a
honey net, a system that creates a fake server to safely collect data from
attacking viruses. Barford said the systems identify and prevent computer
attacks as they happen.

?Computer attacks happen all the time, and the bad guys make
a lot of money from it,? Barford said. ?There is a financial incentive for them
to engage in malicious activities.?

Savoy said the university would try Barford?s prototype when
the company is ready. It will be built into the network so users do not have to
download anything, he added.

?The big thing is that this technology will help us identify
intrusions and attacks with false positives,? Savoy said.

According to Savoy, Nemean?s product is another tool UW can
use as an added defense to the antivirus software it uses now. He added UW
needs a multilayer security system for the network to be safe.

Matthews said he expects the company to be ready to market
the product in the fall of 2008. The software is targeted for companies and
organizations that use networks as one of their key communication tools,
including medium to large enterprise companies, power companies, universities,
the armed forces, and federal and state agencies.

? Carolyn Potts contributed to this report.

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