A consortium of security companies has been formed to agree on a common standard for identifying spyware.

McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro, ICSA Labs and Thompson Cyber Security Labs formed the alliance to create identification and testing methodologies for beating spyware.

"There is an enormous amount of confusion in the marketplace about the origins of spyware and the effectiveness of the tools designed to fight it," said Larry Bridwell of ICSA Labs, an independent division of Cybertrust.

"This agreement is an important first step in maturing the industry to the point where it can combat the proliferation of spyware on behalf of customers, providing a safer and more efficient online environment for everyone."

The five companies in the initial group make up nearly half of all major antivirus and anti-spyware companies, and others are expected to join later this year.

"We knew about this and I think we'll be joining shortly," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"We're not in the list of original members but not through choice. ISCA looks to have limited the initial group to small number of members for simplicity's sake at this early stage."