VirusTotal: Online Virus Scanner

There is no way to escape from virus, spam or malware. Whenever you're with PC or Internet, you're at least the neighbour of virus or spam. But when you get headache, you can't cut your head. That's why our effort to keep something minimum will never end. Today I would like to talk about VirusTotal - A Free Online Virus, Malware & URL Scanner. 

About VirusTotal

There are many virus scanner you can find online. But VirusTotal is a subsidiary of Google that aims to make the internet a safer place. Most importantly VirusTotal demands itself a non commercial site. VirusTotal doesn't advertise any third party products and this prevents it from any kind of bias. 

VirusTotal is a strong site with PR 7 and below 5000 in Alexa Global Rank. It proves the engagement of the users with the site. 

How to Use? 

VirusTotal is designed with the simplest user interface. A person with minimum browsing knowledge should be fine here. Hit on the image below to visit the site: 

After accessing the site you will get the following interface. 

You will get 3 options: 

• File: This is the default option. Hit on the Choose File button, then choose your file from PC and finally hit on the Scan it button to get the result. 

• URL: A very useful one. Select the URL option to scan any website or blog to check it's vulnerability. Type the URL or copy-paste in the box. Then hit on the scan button. 

• Search: If you would like to search for any domain, URL or IP Address then you have to select the search option. Then enter the item and hit on the search option. 

Note: VirusTotal stores the reports for every single scan requested by its users. This allows users to query and render them without having to submit the items (URLs and files) for scanning.

Understanding the Result

After hitting the scan button it may take few minutes to complete the scanning. A file will be scanned by approximately 50 antivirus programs. And a URL will be scanned by 53 URL scanners. You will get the detection ratio. And an indicator will be available at the right site. It will show you the reputation of the file or URL. 

If you're a member of the VirusTotal, then you can take part in voting and commenting. You can join their community to be a member. Join button is located left to the sign in button. 

If you have any query, don't hesitate to leave a comment . . . 

Stay with Marks PC Solution to get more interesting IT topics!