Differential Effects of Prior Experience on the Malware Resolution Process1

Despite growing interest in the economic and policy aspects of information security, little academic research has used field data to examine the development process of a security countermeasure provider. In this paper, we empirically examine the learning process a security software developer undergoes in resolving a malware problem. Using the data collected from a leading antivirus software company in Asia, we study the differential effects of experience on the malware resolution process. Our findings reveal that general knowledge from cross-family experience has greater impact than specific knowledge from within-family experience on performance in the malware resolution process. We also examine the factors that drive the differential effects of prior experience. Interestingly, our data show that cross-family experience is more effective than within-family experience in malware resolution when malware targets the general public than when a specific victim is targeted. Similar results—for example, the higher (lower) effect of cross-family (within-family) experience— were observed in the presence of information sharing among software vendors or during a disruption caused by a catastrophe. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the specific expertise required for security countermeasure providers to be able to respond under varying conditions to fast-evolving malware.