09.29.05

Free Online Security Tools

Posted in Malware, Software, Windows at 1:48 pm by Administrator

Here are a couple free online services for virus discovery.

Trend Micro’s House Call will scan your PC for viruses through your web browser (IE only, installs an ActiveX utility). You can do a virus scan, a security scan (spyware & known security vulnerabilities), or combine the two for a “complete scan.” Testing it out it claims to have found 11 viruses and 1 spyware program on my machine that is regularly scanned with McAfee and Adaware.

Virus Total allows you to upload a file to their server for scanning. It will detect whether the file is a virus using several antivirus engines. You can use their web interface to upload the suspicious file, or email it them. It currently scans with the following antivirus engines: AntiVir, Avast, AVG, Avira, BitDefender, CAT-QuickHeal, ClamAV, DrWeb, eTrust-Iris, eTrust-Vet, Fortinet, F-Prot, Ikarus, Kaspersky, McAfee, NOD32v2, Norman, Panda, Sophos, Symantec, TheHacker, and VBA32.

I would warn that neither of these should be considered a replacement for regular virus and adware scanners.

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09.01.05

Stinger

Posted in Malware, Windows at 6:54 pm by Keith

McAfee has a free program for finding and removing viruses called Stinger. This stand-alone executable is especially effective if you rename it and run it in safe mode to avoid detection by clever viruses.

Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations.

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