AVAR (Association of anti Virus Asia Researchers) was formed in June, 1998 with a mission to prevent the spread of malware and the damage caused by it. AVAR aims to do this by developing cooperative relationships among cyber threat experts in Asia. AVAR is an independent and non-profit organisation which focuses on the Asia Pacific region and consists of prominent experts from 17 territories including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, UK, and the USA.