VirusTotal is an online platform that can scan a file before downloading it and let you know whether it is malicious or not.
If you are wondering if the file you want to download is malicious, you do not have to download it and rely on your antivirus to check it out. You can scan the malware file with more than 60 antivirus engines before downloading it with a single tool.
Note: The present guide is not a substitute for basic safety practices that protect you from phishing and other threats, but it's a way to perform a more in-depth check if you have any doubts about a file.
Scan a Malware link using VirusTotal
To do this, you will need to locate the download link of the file you want to download. This should be a direct link to download the file, not just its address σελίδας λήψης του αρχείου. Για παράδειγμα, εάν θέλετε να σαρώσετε ένα αρχείο .exe, θα χρειαστείτε την άμεση σύνδεση με το αρχείο .exe. Αν θέλετε να σαρώσετε ένα αρχείο .doc, θα χρειαστείτε την άμεση σύνδεση με το αρχείο .doc. Μπορείτε να εντοπίσετε αυτή την σύνδεση συνήθως βάζοντας τον δείκτη του ποντικιού πάνω από το σύνδεσμο, μετά κάνοντας δεξί κλικ, μετά επιλέγοντας το "Αντιγραφή διεύθυνσης συνδέσμου" (στο Crome) και κοιτάζοντας τη διεύθυνση στον browser σας.
Then go to VirusTotal.com. Σημειώστε ότι αυτό το εργαλείο είναι ιδιοκτησία της Google από το 2012. Αλλάξτε την γλώσσα του αν τα αγγλικά σας δεν είναι ικανοποιητικά και "γυρίστε το" στα Ελληνικά πατώντας κάτω δεξιά το button που λέει "English" και ρυθμίστε το στην επιλογή "Greek".
Then click on the 'URL' tab, then paste the link you just copied into the text box. Click the search lens or press Enter to scan the file.
VirusTotal will download the file you provided and scan it with a large number of different antivirus engines. If other people have recently scanned the same file, the VirusTotal will show you the latest scan results.
If you see the message "No engines detected this URL", this means that none of the VirusTotal antivirus engines reported that there was a problem with the file.
Η «0/64» σημαίνει ότι το αρχείο ελέγχθηκε από τις 64 antivirus μηχανές του VirusTotal και καμία από αυτές (μηδέν) δεν εντόπισε κάποιο κακόβουλο λογισμικό. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι θα πρέπει να είναι καθαρό. Φυσικά, είναι πιθανό κάποιο εξαιρετικά νέο κακόβουλο λογισμικό να μην μπορεί ακόμα να ανιχνευθεί από οποιαδήποτε προγράμματα προστασίας από ιούς, γι 'αυτό παραμένει πάντα καλή ιδέα να είστε προσεκτικοί και να παίρνετε λογισμικό μόνο από πηγές που εμπιστεύεστε.
If one or more of the antivirus engines detects a problem with a file, you will see a note saying that a number of antivirus engines have identified the URL as a problem.
In some cases, the opinion can be almost unanimous. In other cases, only a few antivirus tools may present the file as problematic. This is often falsely positive, although in some cases it could mean that some antivirus tools have detected new malware before others. You can scroll down to see which antivirus tools have a problem with the file, see more information about the file, and see community feedback about whether the URL is safe or not.
If you do not have the Direct Link to the file in your hands, then scan a page that contains the download file instead of the file itself.
In the results, you will see a "Download" link on the VirusTotal page. Click on the icon to the right of the "End File" to see more analyzes about the file downloaded from that site.
Integrate VirusTotal into program your browser
To facilitate this process, VirusTotal offers extensions for your browser. The VirusTotal extension will be included in your browser by allowing you to right-click on a link on any webpage and select a "Scan with VirusTotal" option. You will not need to visit VirusTotal and copy-paste the link.
Extensions are available for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Download the appropriate extension for you or if you use multiple browsers download the one-for-one download separately.
If the results in VirusTotal are unanimous and report that a file is dangerous, you should stay away. If the results are mixed, you should be careful, and you can look at the antivirus results in more detail to see why they say the file is dangerous.
If a file is clean, it means it is not detected with any antivirus and malware program. This does not mean that 100% is safe, as no antivirus software is perfect and can not detect new malware, so make sure you've taken your programs from a trusted source.
