The anti-virus programs design issues. Alternative methods proved to be useful in minimizing exposure to viruses or even eliminating a class of infections. The tools and methods for analyzing viruses. Contrary to popular belief it is not that difficult for a programmer to analyze a virus using debugger in a controlled environment and check the validity of information supplied by anti-virus vendors. After all, getting one or more otherwise unused PC is not a problem in any sizable organization.
Social problems connected with viruses are as interesting as computer-science related problems.
Virus hype and virus hoaxes. This is probably the most visible problem. For example information about versions of applications or operating system on which the virus is able to spread is often concealed by AV vendors. Another widespread myth is the myth about the huge number of viruses in existence. Numbers supplied by anti-virus vendors are often misleading because the methods of counting virus strains used by vendors are very imperfect.