FHteam
Admin
|
# Posted: 21 Aug 2009 03:20
Reply
The VirusTotal website warns:
VirusTotal is not a substitute for any antivirus software installed in a PC, as it only scans individual files on demand. It does not offer permanent protection for the user's system either.
Although the detection rate afforded by the use of multiple antivirus engines is far superior to that offered by just one product, these results DO NOT guarantee the harmlessness of a file.
Currently, there is not any solution that offers a 100% effectiveness rate for detecting viruses and malware. You may become a victim of misleading advertising, if you buy such a product under those premises.
That said, if you have a file you're not sure about, or your anti virus has warned you about, let Virus Total check it for you. This is a very effective way of double checking your anti virus program's warnings especially when all you get is a generic warning & not a specific infection name.
If you receive one or two generic-sounding warnings from VirusTotal, such as "suspicious Trojan," the results might be false positives especially if they are similar to what your own program has told you. However, if multiple engines flag the file and identify it by a specific virus/trojan/malware name, the file is almost certainly infected.
We strongly recommend that you use this service to check any file that you *think* may be infected BEFORE you report it to anyone. In the last 12 years Freeware Home has investigated literally *dozens* of "this program contains a virus/trojan" reports - only TWO were genuine!
|
