WTD: Any kind of Virus

"Snowsquall" <Snowsquall157 DeleteThis @sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:1156450827.551687.316070@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
> jpd1977uk DeleteThis @gmail.com wrote:
> > Im after any kind of Virus to test my system. Can anyone help?
>
> Yes. The following link provides a file that sets the antivirus off as
> if it were a virus.

Good! It is important to note that the EICAR string is meant to demonstrate
the working of the AV rather than to test the working of the AV. In other
words, it doesn't really tell you anything about the AV's ability to detect
viruses. What it does do is allows the user to see what the AV would do
if it actually detected a virus, but without the user actually having to deal
with handling a real virus.

Recently the EICAR string has been used as a tool to demonstrate the working
of the AV's ability to de-archive the file and thus detect the string in the extracted
file. People have misunderstood this as a "test" of the AV's ability to detect viruses
in various container files such as encoded e-mail attachments or compressed archives..

Bottom line - EICAR does not "test" the AV, it is only for demonstration of what
the AV would do if it encountered a real malware sample. It also lets you know
that it is actually running and configured at least properly enough to detect EICAR.

> That way you know if you were to get a real virus
> your antivirus would work and you would be protected.

Not really. But you would know what to expect if it did happen to detect one.
Flashing red screen and and shrill alarm might cause a heart attack for some
unexpecting users. )


> http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm

IIRC they also supply e-mail attached EICAR and even some e-mail attached
zipped double zipped and triple zipped EICAR to help confuse people about
its real use. )

> If you are looking for actual viruses, one must realize it could be an
> offence to spread/send them out even if accidently. Be careful. But
> then that depends on the laws of your land.

Look for executable files in the binary pictures groups - they are usually
trojans (not viruses) but are malware and should be detected by most
AVs. Do ""NOT"" execute them to see if the on access AV works.
Use EICAR to demonstrate the working of on access because if it does
not detect the actual malware you're hosed. The EICAR test string is
an actual executable file despite its appearance, and is safe to execute.
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