Test Your AntiVirus Software, Antivirus software test

Creating A Test Virus:

Have you ever doubted if your anti-virus software is actually working? Would you like to see what happens when it detects a virus? Let us take an antivirus software test that doesn't need you to have a real virus.

First, open Notepad. Then copy and paste into it the text on the line below. (It must all be on one line.)

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

Then select File, Save, select All Files for the file type, then save the file as eicar.com.

Your anti-virus software may stop you from saving the file as eicar.com, which is an indication that it is working effectively. If your antivirus software doesn't raise an alert, try scanning the folder where you saved eicar.com. To see what happens if you try to run a file containing a virus, double-click eicar.com to open it.

Explanation:

The file eicar.com you have created is completely safe. It is not a virus. It is a standard antivirus software test file developed by the European Institute for Computer Anti-virus Research (EICAR). All anti-virus products are programmed to detect this file as if it was a real virus. Therefore you can safely exercise it to test whether your anti-virus software works, without being afraid of whether it will actually harm your computer.

Conclusion:

If your anti-virus product should fail to stop you from running the file, it will just display the text "EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE" in a DOS box. No damage will have been done, but you should perhaps consider using a better anti-virus product or antivirus software, because if it had been an actual virus, your computer system would by now be infected!

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