How can I tell if my computer

has a virus?
Windows 7

If you can answer "yes" to any of the following questions, your computer might have a virus.
Is your computer running very slowly? A common symptom of a virus is much slower than
normal computer performance. However, there can be other reasons for slow performance,
including a hard disk that needs defragmenting, a computer that needs more memory (RAM), or
the existence of spyware or adware. For more information about spyware, see How to tell if
your computer is infected with spyware.
Are you getting unexpected messages, or are programs starting automatically? Some
viruses can cause damage to Windows or some of your programs. The results of this damage
might include messages appearing unexpectedly, programs starting or closing automatically, or
Windows shutting down suddenly.
Is your modem or hard disk working overtime? An e-mail virus works by sending many
copies of itself by e-mail. One indicator of this is that the activity light on your broadband or
external modem is constantly lit; another is the sound of your computer's hard disk continually
working. These are not always symptoms of a computer virus, but when combined with other
problems, can indicate a virus infection.
To check for viruses, scan your computer with an antivirus program. New viruses appear every
day, so keeping your antivirus program updated is important. For more information about
computer security, go to the Security at Home page on the Microsoft website. To learn how to
remove malicious software (malware) from your computer, go to the Microsoft Safety
Scanner webpage.

How do I find and remove a
virus?
Applies to Windows 8.1
A fast way to check whether your PC has a virus is to use Windows Defender. This malware
protection is included with Windows and helps identify and remove viruses, spyware, and other
malicious software.
Notes
If you're using Windows 8.1, you can run a scanner or antimalware app provided by another
company if you prefer. To keep your PC running smoothly, you should only install and run one
antimalware app at a time.
If you're using Windows RT 8.1, Windows Defender is always on and can't be turned off.
To scan your PC with Windows Defender
1. Open Windows Defender by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, and then
tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the
screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering defender in
the search box, and then tapping or clicking Windows Defender.
2. Under Scan options, pick the type of scan you want to run:
A Quick scan checks only the areas on your PC that malicious software is most likely
to infect, and any apps currently running.
A Full scan checks all the files on your PC. Depending on your PC, this scan might
take an hour or more.
A Custom scan checks only the files and locations that you choose.
3. Tap or click Scan now.
Remove a virus manually
Windows Defender will typically remove viruses automatically. However, in some cases you
might need to remove a virus manually. This can be a technical process that you should try only
if you've exhausted all other options, you're familiar with the Windows registry, and you know
how to view and delete system and program files in Windows.
First, run your antimalware app to identify the virus by name. If you don't have an antimalware
app or if your app doesn't detect the virus, you might still be able to identify it by looking for
clues about how it behaves. Write down the words in any messages it displays, or, if you
received the virus in email, write down the subject line or name of the file attached to the
message. Then search an antivirus provider's website or the Microsoft Malware Protection
Center for references to what you wrote down or to try and find the name of the virus and
instructions for how to remove it.
For recovery and prevention
After the virus is removed, you might need to reinstall some software or restore lost info.
Making regular backups of your files can help you avoid data loss if your PC gets infected again.
If you haven't made backups in the past, it's a good idea to start now. For more info,
see Restore files or folders using File History.
For additional tips on how you can help protect your PC from viruses, see How can I help
protect my PC from viruses?

How To Properly Scan Your Computer for Viruses, Trojans,
and Other Malware
Completely and correctly scanning your computer for malware like viruses, Trojan horses,
rootkits, spyware, adware, worms, etc. is often a very important troubleshooting step. A
simple virus scan will no longer do.
Many forms of malware cause or masquerade as seemingly unrelated PC issues like Blue
Screens of Death, issues with DLL files, and other serious Windows problems so it's important to
properly check your computer for malware when working to solve many problems.
Note: These are general steps to scan and remove malware from your PC and should apply
to any Windows operating system.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Properly scanning your PC for viruses and other malware could take several
minutes or longer
Applies To: Scanning your computer for malware this way works similarly with Windows
8 (includingWindows 8.1), Windows 7, Windows Vista, andWindows XP.
Here's How:
1. Download and run the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. This free, Microsoft provided
malware removal tool won't find everything, but it will check for "specific, prevalent malicious software"
which is a good start.

Here's a list of everything it will find and remove.

Note: You may already have the Malicious Software Removal Tool installed. If so, make sure you update it
using Windows Update so it can scan for the latest malware.

2. Update your anti-virus/anti-malware software installed on your computer.

Before running a virus scan or malware scan, you need to make sure the virus definitions are up to date. These
regular updates tell your anti-virus software how to find and remove the latest viruses from your PC.

Important: Don't have a virus scan program installed? Download one now! There areseveral free anti-virus
programs available so there's no excuse for not running one.

3. Run a complete virus scan on your entire computer. If you have a dedicated malware scanner that does more
than look for viruses, run a full scan using that program too.

Note: Don't simply run the default system scan which may not include many important parts of your PC.
Check that you're scanning every part of every single hard drive and other connected storage device on your
computer.

Important: Make sure any virus scan includes themaster boot record, boot sector, and any applications
currently running in memory. These are particularly sensitive areas of your computer that can harbor the most
dangerous malware.
Tips:
1. If you've scanned your entire computer for viruses but suspect that it may still be infected, try a free on-
demand virus scanner next. An online virus scan is yet a further step you can take, at least in situations where
you have a good idea what file(s) may be infected.

Antivirus software
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Antivirus" redirects here. For the antiviral medication, see Antiviral drug.


An example of free antivirus software: ClamTk.
Antivirus, anti-virus, or AV software is computer software used to prevent, detect and remove
malicious computer viruses. Most software described as antivirus also works against other types
of malware, such as malicious Browser Helper Objects(BHOs), browser
hijackers, ransomware, keyloggers, backdoors, rootkits, trojan horses, worms,
malicious LSPs, dialers,fraudtools, adware and spyware.
[1]
Computer security, including protection
from social engineering techniques, is commonly offered in products and services of antivirus
software companies.
[2]
This page discusses the software used for the prevention, detection, and
removal of malware threats, rather than computer security implemented by software methods.
A variety of strategies are typically employed. Signature-based detection involves searching for
known patterns of data withinexecutable code. However, it is possible for a computer to be infected
with new malware for which no signature is yet known; and malware is often modified to change its
signature without affecting functionality. To counter such so-called zero-day threats, heuristics can
be used. One type of heuristic approach, generic signatures, can identify variants by looking for
slight variations of known malicious code in files. Some antivirus software can also predict what a file
will do by running it in asandbox and analyzing what it does to see if it performs any actions which
could be malicious.
Antivirus software has some drawbacks. It can impair a computer's performance.
[3]
Inexperienced
users can be lulled into a false sense of security when using the computer, considering themselves
to be totally protected, and may have problems understanding the prompts and decisions that
antivirus software presents them with. An incorrect decision may lead to a security breach. If the
antivirus software employs heuristic detection, it must be fine-tuned to minimize misidentifying
harmless software as malicious (false positive).
[4]
Antivirus software itself usually runs at the highly
trusted kernel level of the operating system to allow it access to all the potential malicious process
and files, creating a potential avenue of attack.
[5]

Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Identification method
o 2.1 Signature-based detection
o 2.2 Heuristics
o 2.3 Rootkit detection
o 2.4 Real-time protection
3 Issues of concern
o 3.1 Unexpected renewal costs
o 3.2 Rogue security applications
o 3.3 Problems caused by false positives
o 3.4 System and interoperability related issues
o 3.5 Effectiveness
o 3.6 New viruses
o 3.7 Rootkits
o 3.8 Damaged files
o 3.9 Firmware issues
4 Other methods
o 4.1 Cloud antivirus
o 4.2 Network firewall
o 4.3 Online scanning
o 4.4 Specialist tools
5 Usage and risks
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links
History[edit]
See also: Timeline of notable computer viruses and worms
Most of the computer viruses written in the early and mid-1980s were limited to self-reproduction and
had no specific damage routine built into the code.
[6]
That changed when more and more
programmers became acquainted with virus programming and created viruses that manipulated or
even destroyed data on infected computers.
There are competing claims for the innovator of the first antivirus product. Possibly the first publicly
documented removal of a computer virus in the wild was performed by Bernd Fix in 1987.
[7][8]
There
were also two antivirus applications for the Atari ST platform developed in 1987. The first one was G
Data
[9]
and second was UVK 2000.
[10]

Fred Cohen, who published one of the first academic papers on computer viruses in 1984,
[11]
began
to develop strategies for antivirus software in 1988
[12]
that were picked up and continued by later
antivirus software developers. In 1987, he published a demonstration that there is no algorithm that
can perfectly detect all possible viruses.
[13]

In 1987 the first two heuristic antivirus utilities were released: Flushot Plus by Ross Greenberg and
Anti4us by Erwin Lanting.
[citation needed]

Also in 1988 a mailing list named VIRUS-L
[14]
was started on the BITNET/EARN network where new
viruses and the possibilities of detecting and eliminating viruses were discussed. Some members of
this mailing list like John McAfee or Eugene Kaspersky later founded software companies that
developed and sold commercial antivirus software.
Before internet connectivity was widespread, viruses were typically spread by infected floppy disks.
Antivirus software came into use, but was updated relatively infrequently. During this time, virus
checkers essentially had to check executable files and the boot sectors of floppy disks and hard
disks. However, as internet usage became common, viruses began to spread online.
[15]

Over the years it has become necessary for antivirus software to check an increasing variety of files,
rather than just executables, for several reasons:
Powerful macros used in word processor applications, such as Microsoft Word, presented a risk.
Virus writers could use the macros to write viruses embedded within documents. This meant that
computers could now also be at risk from infection by opening documents with hidden attached
macros.
[16]

The possibility of embedding executable objects inside otherwise non-executable file formats
can make opening those files a risk.
[17]

Later email programs, in particular Microsoft's Outlook Express and Outlook, were vulnerable to
viruses embedded in the email body itself. A user's computer could be infected by just opening
or previewing a message.
[18]

As always-on broadband connections became the norm, and more and more viruses were released,
it became essential to update virus checkers more and more frequently. Even then, a new zero-day
virus could become widespread before antivirus companies released an update to protect against it.
Identification method[edit]
One of the few solid theoretical results in the study of computer viruses is Frederick B. Cohen's 1987
demonstration that there is no algorithm that can perfectly detect all possible viruses.
[13]

There are several methods which antivirus software can use to identify malware:
Signature based detection is the most common method. To identify viruses and other malware,
antivirus software compares the contents of a file to a dictionary of virus signatures. Because
viruses can embed themselves in existing files, the entire file is searched, not just as a whole,
but also in pieces.
[19]

Heuristic-based detection like malicious activity detection, can be used to identify unknown
viruses.
File emulation is another heuristic approach. File emulation involves executing a program in
a virtual environment and logging what actions the program performs. Depending on the actions
logged, the antivirus software can determine if the program is malicious or not and then carry out
the appropriate disinfection actions.
[20]

Signature-based detection[edit]
Traditionally, antivirus software heavily relied upon signatures to identify malware. This can be very
effective, but cannot defend against malware unless samples have already been obtained and
signatures created. Because of this, signature-based approaches are not effective against new,
unknown viruses.
As new viruses are being created each day, the signature-based detection approach requires
frequent updates of the virus signature dictionary. To assist the antivirus software companies, the
software may allow the user to upload new viruses or variants to the company, allowing the virus to
be analyzed and the signature added to the dictionary.
[19]

Although the signature-based approach can effectively contain virus outbreaks, virus authors have
tried to stay a step ahead of such software by writing "oligomorphic", "polymorphic" and, more
recently, "metamorphic" viruses, which encrypt parts of themselves or otherwise modify themselves
as a method of disguise, so as to not match virus signatures in the dictionary.
[21]

Heuristics[edit]
Some more sophisticated antivirus software uses heuristic analysis to identify new malware or
variants of known malware.
Many viruses start as a single infection and through either mutation or refinements by other
attackers, can grow into dozens of slightly different strains, called variants. Generic detection refers
to the detection and removal of multiple threats using a single virus definition.
[22]

For example, the Vundo trojan has several family members, depending on the antivirus vendor's
classification. Symantec classifies members of the Vundo family into two distinct
categories, Trojan.Vundo and Trojan.Vundo.B.
[23][24]

While it may be advantageous to identify a specific virus, it can be quicker to detect a virus family
through a generic signature or through an inexact match to an existing signature. Virus researchers
find common areas that all viruses in a family share uniquely and can thus create a single generic
signature. These signatures often contain non-contiguous code, using wildcard characters where
differences lie. These wildcards allow the scanner to detect viruses even if they are padded with
extra, meaningless code.
[25]
A detection that uses this method is said to be "heuristic detection."
Rootkit detection[edit]
Main article: Rootkit
Anti-virus software can attempt to scan for rootkits; a rootkit is a type of malware that is designed to
gain administrative-level control over a computer system without being detected. Rootkits can
change how the operating system functions and in some cases can tamper with the anti-virus
program and render it ineffective. Rootkits are also difficult to remove, in some cases requiring a
complete re-installation of the operating system.
[26]

Real-time protection[edit]
Real-time protection, on-access scanning, background guard, resident shield, autoprotect, and other
synonyms refer to the automatic protection provided by most antivirus, anti-spyware, and other anti-
malware programs. This monitors computer systems for suspicious activity such as computer
viruses, spyware, adware, and other malicious objects in 'real-time', in other words while data loaded
into the computer's active memory: when inserting a CD, opening an email, or browsing the web, or
when a file already on the computer is opened or executed.
[27]

Issues of concern[edit]
Unexpected renewal costs[edit]
Some commercial antivirus software end-user license agreements include a clause that
the subscription will be automatically renewed, and the purchaser's credit card automatically billed,
at the renewal time without explicit approval. For example, McAfee requires users to unsubscribe at
least 60 days before the expiration of the present subscription
[28]
while BitDefender sends
notifications to unsubscribe 30 days before the renewal.
[29]
Norton AntiVirus also renews
subscriptions automatically by default.
[30]

Rogue security applications[edit]
Main article: Rogue security software
Some apparent antivirus programs are actually malware masquerading as legitimate software, such
as WinFixer, MS Antivirus, and Mac Defender.
[31]

Problems caused by false positives[edit]
A "false positive" is when antivirus software identifies a non-malicious file as a virus. When this
happens, it can cause serious problems. For example, if an antivirus program is configured to
immediately delete or quarantine infected files, as is common on Microsoft Windows antivirus
applications, a false positive in an essential file can render the Windowsoperating system or some
applications unusable.
[32]
Recovering from such damage to critical software infrastructure incurs
technical support costs and businesses can be forced to close whilst remedial action is
undertaken.
[33][34]
For example, in May 2007 a faulty virus signature issued by Symantec mistakenly
removed essential operating system files, leaving thousands of PCs unable to boot.
[35]

Also in May 2007, the executable file required by Pegasus Mail on Windows was falsely detected
by Norton AntiVirus as being a Trojan and it was automatically removed, preventing Pegasus Mail
from running. Norton AntiVirus had falsely identified three releases of Pegasus Mail as malware, and
would delete the Pegasus Mail installer file when that happened.
[36]
In response to this Pegasus Mail
stated:

On the basis that Norton/Symantec has done this for every one of the last three
releases of Pegasus Mail, we can only condemn this product as too flawed to use, and
recommend in the strongest terms that our users cease using it in favour of alternative,
less buggy anti-virus packages.
[36]


In April 2010, McAfee VirusScan detected svchost.exe, a normal Windows binary, as a virus on
machines running Windows XP with Service Pack 3, causing a reboot loop and loss of all network
access.
[37][38]

In December 2010, a faulty update on the AVG anti-virus suite damaged 64-bit versions of Windows
7, rendering it unable to boot, due to an endless boot loop created.
[39]

In October 2011, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) removed the Google Chrome web browser,
rival to Microsoft's own Internet Explorer. MSE flagged Chrome as a Zbot banking trojan.
[40]

In September 2012, Sophos' anti-virus suite identified various update-mechanisms, including its
own, as malware. If it was configured to automatically delete detected files, Sophos Antivirus could
render itself unable to update, required manual intervention to fix the problem.
[41][42]

System and interoperability related issues[edit]
Running multiple antivirus programs concurrently can degrade performance and create
conflicts.
[43]
However, using a concept called multiscanning, several companies (includingG
Data
[44]
and Microsoft
[45]
) have created applications which can run multiple engines concurrently.
It is sometimes necessary to temporarily disable virus protection when installing major updates such
as Windows Service Packs or updating graphics card drivers.
[46]
Active antivirus protection may
partially or completely prevent the installation of a major update. Anti-virus software can cause
problems during the installation of an operating system upgrade, e.g. when upgrading to a newer
version of Windows "in place" without erasing the previous version of Windows. Microsoft
recommends that anti-virus software be disabled to avoid conflicts with the upgrade installation
process.
[47][48][49]

The functionality of a few computer programs can be hampered by active anti-virus software. For
example TrueCrypt, a disk encryption program, states on its troubleshooting page that anti-virus
programs can conflict with TrueCrypt and cause it to malfunction or operate very slowly.
[50]
Anti-virus
software can impair the performance and stability of games running in the Steam platform.
[51]

Support issues also exist around antivirus application interoperability with common solutions
like SSL VPN remote access and network access control products.
[52]
These technology solutions
often have policy assessment applications which require that an up to date antivirus is installed and
running. If the antivirus application is not recognized by the policy assessment, whether because the
antivirus application has been updated or because it is not part of the policy assessment library, the
user will be unable to connect.
Effectiveness[edit]
Studies in December 2007 showed that the effectiveness of antivirus software had decreased in the
previous year, particularly against unknown or zero day attacks. The computer magazine c't found
that detection rates for these threats had dropped from 40-50% in 2006 to 20-30% in 2007. At that
time, the only exception was the NOD32 antivirus, which managed a detection rate of 68 percent.
[53]

The problem is magnified by the changing intent of virus authors. Some years ago it was obvious
when a virus infection was present. The viruses of the day, written by amateurs, exhibited
destructive behavior or pop-ups. Modern viruses are often written by professionals, financed
by criminal organizations.
[54]

Independent testing on all the major virus scanners consistently shows that none provide 100% virus
detection. The best ones provided as high as 99.9% detection for simulated real-world situations,
while the lowest provided 91.1% in tests conducted in August 2013. Many virus scanners produce
false positive results as well, identifying benign files as malware.
[55]

Although methodologies may differ, some notable independent quality testing agencies include AV-
Comparatives, ICSA Labs, West Coast Labs, Virus Bulletin, AV-TEST and other members of
the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization.
[56][57]

New viruses[edit]
Anti-virus programs are not always effective against new viruses, even those that use non-signature-
based methods that should detect new viruses. The reason for this is that the virus designers test
their new viruses on the major anti-virus applications to make sure that they are not detected before
releasing them into the wild.
[58]

Some new viruses, particularly ransomware, use polymorphic code to avoid detection by virus
scanners. Jerome Segura, a security analyst with ParetoLogic, explained:
[59]


It's something that they miss a lot of the time because this type of [ransomware virus]
comes from sites that use a polymorphism, which means they basically randomize the
file they send you and it gets by well-known antivirus products very easily. I've seen
people firsthand getting infected, having all the pop-ups and yet they have antivirus
software running and it's not detecting anything. It actually can be pretty hard to get
rid of, as well, and you're never really sure if it's really gone. When we see something
like that usually we advise to reinstall the operating system or reinstall backups.
[59]


A proof of concept virus has used the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to avoid detection from anti-
virus software. The potential success of this involves bypassing the CPU in order to make it much
harder for security researchers to analyse the inner workings of such malware.
[60]

Rootkits[edit]
Detecting rootkits is a major challenge for anti-virus programs. Rootkits have full administrative
access to the computer and are invisible to users and hidden from the list of running processes in
the task manager. Rootkits can modify the inner workings of the operating system
[61]
and tamper
with antivirus programs.
Damaged files[edit]
Files which have been damaged by computer viruses, e.g. by ransomware, may be damaged
beyond recovery. Anti-virus software removes the virus code from the file during disinfection, but this
does not always restore the file to its undamaged state. In such circumstances, damaged files can
only be restored from existing backups or shadow copies;
[62]
installed software that is damaged
requires re-installation
[63]
(however, see System File Checker).
Firmware issues[edit]
Active anti-virus software can interfere with a firmware update process.
[64]
Any writeable firmware in
the computer can be infected by malicious code.
[65]
This is a major concern, as an
infected BIOS could require the actual BIOS chip to be replaced to ensure the malicious code is
completely removed.
[66]
Anti-virus software is not effective at protecting firmware and
the motherboard BIOS from infection.
[67]

Other methods[edit]


A command-line virus scanner,Clam AV 0.95.2, running a virus signature definition update, scanning a
file and identifying a Trojan
Installed antivirus software running on an individual computer is only one method of guarding against
viruses. Other methods are also used, including cloud-based antivirus, firewalls and on-line
scanners.
Cloud antivirus[edit]
Cloud antivirus is a technology that uses lightweight agent software on the protected computer, while
offloading the majority of data analysis to the provider's infrastructure.
[68]

One approach to implementing cloud antivirus involves scanning suspicious files using multiple
antivirus engines. This approach was proposed by an early implementation of the cloud antivirus
concept called CloudAV. CloudAV was designed to send programs or documents to a network
cloud where multiple antivirus and behavioral detection programs are used simultaneously in order
to improve detection rates. Parallel scanning of files using potentially incompatible antivirus scanners
is achieved by spawning a virtual machine per detection engine and therefore eliminating any
possible issues. CloudAV can also perform "retrospective detection," whereby the cloud detection
engine rescans all files in its file access history when a new threat is identified thus improving new
threat detection speed. Finally, CloudAV is a solution for effective virus scanning on devices that
lack the computing power to perform the scans themselves.
[69]

Some examples of cloud anti-virus products are Panda Cloud Antivirus and Immunet.
Network firewall[edit]
Network firewalls prevent unknown programs and processes from accessing the system. However,
they are not antivirus systems and make no attempt to identify or remove anything. They may
protect against infection from outside the protected computer or network, and limit the activity of any
malicious software which is present by blocking incoming or outgoing requests on certain TCP/IP
ports. A firewall is designed to deal with broader system threats that come from network connections
into the system and is not an alternative to a virus protection system.
Online scanning[edit]
Some antivirus vendors maintain websites with free online scanning capability of the entire
computer, critical areas only, local disks, folders or files. Periodic online scanning is a good idea for
those that run antivirus applications on their computers because those applications are frequently
slow to catch threats. One of the first things that malicious software does in an attack is disable any
existing antivirus software and sometimes the only way to know of an attack is by turning to an
online resource that is not installed on the infected computer.
[70]

Specialist tools[edit]


Using rkhunter to scan for rootkitson an Ubuntu Linux computer.
Virus removal tools are available to help remove stubborn infections or certain types of infection.
Examples include Trend Micro's Rootkit Buster,
[71]
and rkhunter for the detection
of rootkits, Avira's AntiVir Removal Tool,
[72]
PCTools Threat Removal Tool,
[73]
and AVG's Anti-Virus
Free 2011.
[74]

A rescue disk that is bootable, such as a CD or USB storage device, can be used to run antivirus
software outside of the installed operating system, in order to remove infections while they are
dormant. A bootable antivirus disk can be useful when, for example, the installed operating system is
no longer bootable or has malware that is resisting all attempts to be removed by the installed
antivirus software. Examples of some of these bootable disks include the Avira AntiVir Rescue
System,
[72]
PCTools Alternate Operating System Scanner,
[75]
and AVG Rescue CD.
[76]
The AVG
Rescue CD software can also be installed onto a USB storage device, that is bootable on newer
computers.
[76]

Usage and risks[edit]
According to an FBI survey, major businesses lose $12 million annually dealing with virus
incidents.
[77]
A survey by Symantec in 2009 found that a third of small to medium sized business did
not use antivirus protection at that time, whereas more than 80% of home users had some kind of
antivirus installed.
[78]
According to a sociological survey conducted by G Data Software in 2010 49%
of women did not use any antivirus program at all.
[79]


VirusTotal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
VirusTotal

Web address
www.virustotal.com
Commercial?
No
Type of site
Free checking of suspicious files using
multiple antivirus engines.
Registration
No
Available in
English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese,
German, Dutch, Danish, Russian, Bulgarian,
Croatian, Serbian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese,
Persian, Vietnamese
Owner
Google Inc.
Created by
Hispasec Sistemas
Launched
June 2004
Alexa rank
4,023
[1]

VirusTotal is a website that provides free checking of files for viruses. It uses up to
52
[2]
different antivirus products
[3]
and scan engines to check for viruses that the user's own antivirus
solution may have missed, or to verify against any false positives.
[4]
Files up to 64 MB can be
uploaded to the website or sent via email.
[5]
Anti-virus software vendors can receive copies of files
that were flagged by other scans but passed by their own engine, to help improve their software and,
by extension, VirusTotal's own capability. Users can also scan suspect URLs and search through the
VirusTotal dataset. At the moment, VirusTotal is available in 24 languages.
VirusTotal was selected by PC World as one of the best 100 products of 2007.
[6]

Friday, 7 September 2012 it was announced that Google Inc. had acquired VirusTotal.
[7][8]

Contents
[hide]
1 VTUploader for Microsoft Windows
2 VirusTotal for Browsers
3 VirusTotal for Mobile
4 Public API
5 Antivirus Engines Used
6 External links
7 References
VTUploader for Microsoft Windows[edit]
VTUploader
[9]
is an application that integrates into the Explorer's (right-click) contextual menu, listed
under Send To > Virus Total. The application also launches manually for submitting a URL or a
program that is currently running in the OS.
VirusTotal stores the name and various hashes for each scanned file. Already scanned files can be
identified by their known (e.g., VT default) SHA256 hash without uploading complete files. The
SHA256 query URL has the form https://www.virustotal.com/latest-scan/SHA256. File
uploads are normally limited to 64 MB.
[10]

VirusTotal for Browsers[edit]
There are several browser extensions is available, such as VTzilla for Mozilla
Firefox, VTchromizer for Google Chrome and VTexplorer for Internet Explorer. They allow the user
to download files directly with VirusTotal's web application prior to storing them in the computer, as
well as scanning URLs.
[11]

VirusTotal for Mobile[edit]
The service also offers an Android App
[12]
that employs the public API to search any installed
application for VirusTotal's previously scanned ones and show its status. Any application not
previously scanned can be submitted, but an API key must be provided and other restrictions to
public API usage may apply (see #Public API).
Public API[edit]
VirusTotal provides as a free service a public API that allows for automation of some of its online
features such as "upload and scan files, submit and scan URLs, access finished scan reports and
make automatic comments on URLs and samples". Some restrictions apply for requests made
through the public API, such as requiring an individual API key freely obtained by online signing up,
low priority scan queue, limited number of requests per time frame, etc.
[13]


Definition Edit
A virus checker is a software program that automatically search a computer file for
known viruses.
Overview Edit
The checker scans files every time the computer is turned on or when new disks are
inserted into thecomputer. The virus checker looks for patterns of code that resemble
the code used in known viruses, and alerts the user when it finds a resemblance. Since
new viruses are discovered every month, virus checkers must be updated often, although
many viruses cause no damage or are not relevant to most users.