Over its 14-year history, the VB conference has become a major highlight of the anti-virus calendar, with many of its regular attendees citing it as the anti-virus event of the year. The VB conference provides a focus for the anti-virus industry, representing an opportunity for experts in the anti-virus arena to share their research interests, discuss methods and technologies and set new standards, as well as meet with - and learn from - those who put their technologies into practice in the real world. While in the past the conference has focused exclusively on computer viruses and malware threats, VB2004 will see an expansion of the programme to cover topics relating to spam and anti-spam techniques. Delegates range from dedicated AV researchers to security experts from government and military organizations, legal, financial and educational institutions and large corporations worldwide.