What is a VirusTotal? – Definition, Advantages and More

VirusTotal Definition

VirusTotal is a web and a tool. Created by the Spanish security company called Hispasec Sistemas — despite its majority use in the US. And Canada – on the one hand, it has an updated database.

And, with 55 antivirus engines and 70 detection engines. This tool is also available in application format for mobile phones, both Android and iOS, through the Mac executable.

To know if we have any malware installed or suspect any file, all we have to do is upload that file from the search bar. And, in a matter of seconds, we will know if that file is safe or not. That easy. And free.

The platform servers collate the information of the content uploaded with the archived data. Even so, it recommends making several attempts. If we suspect a file, the latest virus signatures may detect something new. The web also analyzes URLs suspected of being spyware or windows for misuse.

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What are the Advantages of VirusTotal?

POWER IS IN THE TOOLS

• Since its tools grant the value of VirusTotal, there is no better way to guarantee good performance and avoid false positives than through extensions and powerups.
• For example, VirusTotal Graph is an additional tool that generates a graphic with a central node, consisting of the file, and the nodes to which it is linked. Sites where we find related information.
• The mission is to create a path to track the origin of that file or, at least, know if it is connected to suspicious online files.
• The editor Emiliano Martínez explains how to circumvent the erroneous detection linked to file chains, an extra layer of monitoring that helps us to verify if that software that we are probing is safe or not.
• If we use the Firefox browser, we also have extensions like VTZilla 2.0, compatible with Firefox Quantum – don’t worry. If you are from Chrome you have Chromizer -, the files we download get scanned automatically.

We can even choose what to scan: downloads, documents, files that we upload and send and also the URLs that we link to other people. A good option to avoid phishing – identity supplanting – and not to ‘infect’ other people.

TRICKS AND TIPS

If you just landed on the platform, you can rest easy: there is no learning period. All its functionalities are simple and easy to implement. But some are more hidden than others.

• First of all, we can analyze a complete URL, but also a web domain by writing your name and sending an email to scan@virustotal.com.
• This resource also serves to find the hasher of the file (verifier) between suspicious IP addresses that jump on our Wi-Fi search network, for example. And we can also apply it to analyze our browser’s extensions.
• It does not affect in a nominal sense the performance and load of the pages. We will not perceive slow navigation and we will be guaranteeing an extra eye on the extensions that we install — the more barriers to overcome, the higher detection rates.
• We must also point to another reality: in all free software, the muscle of the application is determined by the contribution of its community.
• If you are a user and want to contribute to the community, there is no problem; You can be the next hero to detect a bug in the form of malware.

VirusTotal has a public API, that is, an open programming interface to implement new features. The users who contribute the most get promotion through a reputation system, depending on the usefulness of their contributions. It publishes the rules of labeling and voting on its website.

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