We’ve mentioned many times before that it’s almost essential to have antivirus software installed on your computer. This becomes especially clear if you're using a Windows-based device.
Microsoft's own solution, Windows Defender, comes pre-installed, providing integrated security. Security has become crucial in today’s world, especially with the widespread use of the internet. On top of that, we're increasingly handling more sensitive and private data on our computers, which we don’t want to fall into the wrong hands. Malicious entities are constantly trying to intercept this information. Various types of malware now threaten our devices more than ever, so taking precautionary measures is a must to avoid serious harm. In addition to antivirus software, which should always be kept up-to-date, it’s important to avoid suspicious downloads and questionable websites.
Sometimes, when we download files from the internet, doubts about their reliability arise. In such cases, we can turn to online solutions like VirusTotal, which you can access from this link.
VirusTotal is an online security platform that allows us to upload files we suspect and analyze them in real-time. The web app uses multiple antivirus programs from its servers to show us the results concerning the file we’ve scanned. It’s one of the best ways to ensure that files are free of harmful code.
However, it’s important to know that sometimes the results obtained may not be as reliable as we initially thought. VirusTotal has a serious problem that you’ve likely encountered if you’ve used the service before.
False Positives: The Major Issue in Virus Detection
When we upload a file to the platform, many antivirus programs analyze it remotely and present us with the corresponding results. However, more often than we'd like, VirusTotal suffers from the issue of false positives.
False positives occur when a harmless file or program is incorrectly identified as a threat. In other words, VirusTotal labels it as containing some form of malicious code, which is untrue. This happens more frequently than one might imagine.
At this point, we need to take additional steps to ensure accuracy. For example, if only a small number of the many antivirus programs used by VirusTotal flag the file as dangerous, it’s likely a false positive. Additionally, we can use other similar platforms to double-check before permanently saving the file to our computer.
One such alternative is MetaDefender Cloud. This can serve as a reliable second opinion.
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