Free Virus Scanners

Have you ever been presented with this situation. Your at your friends house or work when you realize you have a document due tomorrow. That document still needs some fine tuning and graphics added to it. You quickly grab your flash drive that has your stored files on it and upload it to your friends computer to do your editing. You edit your files, add a few images you downloaded off the internet and then save everything back to your flash drive. You unmount your USB stick thank your friend for allowing you to use their computer and go about your way.

Now when you arrive home you have decided you would like to make just a few more changes to your document. You plug in your USB stick and go to access your files but before you know it your anti-virus sends up alarms everywhere. Somethings attempting to modify your registery, files are being halted to stop the infections and your computer resources are being sucked dry like a vampire that sparkles in the sunlight (sorry twilight fans, I just don't get it.) trying to calm the chaos.

As you sit back and watch your system make every attempt to save itself you wonder how this could happen. You know for a fact you kept your virus database up to date and you keep your computer clear of unknown programs. Then it dawns on you, your friends computer! Did your infection come from your friends computer after all? So you give them a call and find out they are indeed running a virus scanner but it's not the same as yours and they state they keep it updated daily.

Now you know the infected file lies within your flash drive but which file is it? Why didn't his scanner pick it up. Only if there was a way to run several scanners on it without having to install a bunch of anti-virus programs. Well guess what there is a way and it involves two of my favorite words it's online and it's free.

The great people at http://www.virustotal.com/ have come up with a clever website that allows you to not only upload a file for analysis but does so using 43 different virus scanners. You can even upload the file using SSL encryption if you are worried about your privacy. Once you select your file and then click send file you just sit back and wait for the analysis report. It provides you with completion log showing you which virus scanner was used, how up to date they are and of any possible positive results.

The second feature they offer is the ability to scan a suspected URL site before actually visiting it. This will allow you to steer free of websites that intend to cause harm to your computer through the use of viruses and malware. I know if you use your email client as much as I do your friends and family will send you silly emails and chain letters often with links. Using the scanner with this site could save you a load of grief and possible computer corruption.

So you may be asking what type of scanners does this site actually use? Well my report showed the PDF file I submitted was scanned by the following: AhnLab-V3, AntiVir, Antiy-AVL, Authentium, Avast, Avast5, AVG, BitDefender, CAT-QuickHeal, ClamAV, Comodo, DrWeb, Emsisoft, eSafe, eTrust-Vet, F-Port, F-Secure, Fortinet, GData, Ikarus, Jiangmin, K7AntiVirus, Kapersky, McAfee, McAfee-GW-Edition, Microsoft, NOD32, Norman, nProtect, Panda, PCTools, Prevx, Rising, Sophos, Sunbelt, SUPERAntiySpyware, Symantec, TheHacker, TrendMicro, TrendMicro-HouseCall, VBA32, ViRobot and VirusBuster.

As you can see from the above list there are some well known and some big name contenders being used at that website. Some have been around for quite some years and are well known while others that were listed I have never heard of before. Also many of the scanners listed above are designed to scan the gambit of malicious codes including: Viruses, Worms, Trojans, and other forms of malware and requires NO downloading or installation onto your local system. How great is that!

Like I mentioned the service is free to scan your files or website and offers a multitude of scanners and an analysis report. Check them out at http://www.virustotal.com/

As always thank you for reading.

Side Note: The file I uploaded was a standard PDF manual that was not infected so I do not know first hand what an infected report will produce and if a solution is offered by the site. But I may attempt a sandbox infection and update this report afterwards shortly.

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