Standardized Malware Names

As a followup to the recent post of thoughts on the state of the AV industry, a friend points me at a story about a new effort to standardize malware names:

The identifiers will look something like "CME-1234567", the letter says. Headline writers need not be too dismayed, however, as it appears there could be room to apply media-friendly names like "Blaster" and "Slammer" to new threats.

Source: Virus names could be standardized, 25 November 2004, Computer Business Online.

A quick search of the MITRE website didn't turn up any related hits for CME or malware, but this could still be a quiet project within their research corridors. If so, this could be promising. Right now, digging for malware information requires that you know the nickname of the malware and any variants and consult a vendor website. A central site with common names would be ideal, and if it moves faster than Vgrep (which is updated frequently, but certainly not daily), that would be great.