The Labs establish a standard through research on the nature of the security threat and through consultation in the industry. Developers and vendors of security products then register their product for testing and certification to the standard. New products and new versions of existing products are also tested. In this way, you can be confident that a product which is Checkmarked will protect you against the appropriate security threat. The Checkmark does not cost you anything.
Developers have to pay West Coast Labs to have their product tested.
There are one or two other systems run by private companies or by students in universities. However these groups in our opinion do not offer a comprehensive range of products and services that a progressive professional company demands. If you see a Checkmark it means that West Coast Labs, at the time shown on the product history page, carried out the specific tests specified on this web site and that the product has passed those tests at that time. It does not mean that all the manufacturer's claims in respect of that product have been tested by West Coast Labs. You should regularly check this web site to see what tests have been passed and when those tests were passed.