Poor man’s view of the world

Paranoid about computer viruses?

Ever since Nimda blew my data to bits (…literally), I have been very very worried about computer viruses (and worms and Trojans etc etc). I use AVG on my personal machine but sometimes there are files I am doubly suspicious about. Even if AVG gives the clear signal that the file is virus free, I need a “second opinion”.

virustotal.com is a great place to get not just a “second opinion” but 32 opinions on a suspected file !!

VirusTotal analyzes suspicious files and facilitates the quick detection of viruses, worms, trojans, and all kinds of malware detected by antivirus engines. Its features are:

• Its free!!
• It uses multiple antivirus engines (32 as of today!!)
• It features real-time automatic updates of virus signatures
• Gives you detailed results from each antivirus engine