Are you afraid to download a new file to your
computer because it may contain a virus? Are you wondering if the file you want
to download is safe or not? Well, this is the article for you where we come up
with an effective way to check the security of files before they make their way
to your computer.
Downloading files from the Internet always
involves risks, as it is possible to receive files from unknown sources or even
from friends, which contain malware, often very dangerous. There are actually
many types of files that can carry security threats with them, such as
compressed files, executables, Office documents, and even image files that
sometimes contain viruses.
Therefore, before you hit the
"Download" button, you need to make sure that
the file is clean and free of any potential viruses. Don't be complacent and
rely entirely on the antivirus software installed on the device, fortunately,
there is a free tool that you can use to scan the file before downloading for
malware using more than 60 antivirus software, so let's review it for you
below.
But keep in mind that this method is not a
substitute for basic security measures, which must be implemented to protect
against threats such as phishing and other cybercriminal activities. It is
simply just a way to help you perform a more in-depth examination if you
suspect a file on the Internet.
First of all, you will need to specify the main
link from which to download the file. This link is also known as a "direct
link" because as soon as you click on it, the file starts downloading
immediately - without going to another web page.
For example, if you want to check the file
responsible for installing a program, you are looking for the EXE file and
therefore you will need the direct link to this file. As another example, if
you want to scan a DOC file, you will need the direct link to download that DOC
file.
You can simply find this direct link by
hovering over the Download button and then looking at the address as it appears
in your browser. In the image below, the direct link to download the VLC
installation file appears after placing your mouse pointer on the Download
button on the official website. If you're using Google Chrome or Microsoft
Edge, you'll find the address in the lower left.
Once you find the direct link to download the
file, right-click on it and select the Copy to clipboard option. In Chrome
browser, you will find the "Copy link" option in the menu that will
appear, while it is called "Copy Link Location" in Firefox.
After copying the direct link, head to VirusTotal.com
in your web browser to go to the online file scanner, a popular Google tool
since 2012. By accessing the tool and clicking on the URL tab you can Paste or
paste the link you copied, in the custom search field, then press the
"Search" button or the Enter key to start scanning the file.
What happens now is that VirusTotal downloads
the file you selected to its own servers, and then starts scanning it with a
large number of different antivirus programs. And if other people have tried to
scan the same file recently, the tool will show you their latest scan results.
Now if you see "No engines detected this
URL" it means that none of VirusTotal's certified antivirus engines have
reported a problem with that file, so it's safe and you can download it without
worrying about security threats.
If the indicator shows "0/76" then
the file has been considered malicious by 0 of VirusTotal's 76 total antivirus
engines. In other words, this indicates that the file is clean and free of any
malware.
But keep in mind that it's possible that new
malware won't be detected by all antivirus software; That is, there are
completely new viruses or malware that are not yet on the security threats list
of VirusTotal's built-in security software. Therefore, it is always a good idea
to be careful and download software only from trusted sources or official
authorities.
On the other hand, if VirusTotal or one of the
built-in antivirus engines detects a problem with the file you intend to
upload, you'll see a notification that a number of antivirus engines have
detected the URL as malicious.
In some cases, the opinion may be almost
unanimous, with the index "70/76" confirming that the file contains
malicious content without any doubt! While in other cases, only a few antivirus
engines may have a problem with the file and consider it malicious. Thus, it
cannot be emphasized that downloading it should be avoided.
Although in certain circumstances some
antivirus engines may have detected new malware before others. But to make it
clear, you can scroll down to see which antivirus engines had a problem with
the file and view more details about the file. You can also see community
feedback by going to the "Community" tab about whether a URL is
secure.
To facilitate the process of verifying that the
file is safe before downloading it, VirusTotal offers an extension for various
web browsers that allows it to integrate with the browser to scan links quickly
and easily so that all you have to do is right-click on the direct link on any
web page and select the “Scan selected” option link” to start the scan
immediately. Thus you don't have to visit VirusTotal website and paste the link
every time. This is also useful if you are downloading a lot of files from the
Internet from untrusted sites.
The extensions are available for Google Chrome,
Firefox, and even Internet Explorer. Just head over to this page
(support.virustotal.com/Browser-Extensions) and download the extension that is
compatible with your web browser, then you can right-click on the direct link
and select VirusTotal to quickly scan it and see the results.
Again, if you find that VirusTotal's built-in
antivirus engines unanimously tell you that a file is dangerous, you should
stay away. If the results are mixed, you should be careful, but you may want to
check out more detailed antivirus results to see why they consider the file to
be dangerous.
If the file is clean and the index is
"0/76", then it has not been considered by any antivirus software as
a malicious file. That doesn't mean it's safe, of course - your antivirus isn't
perfect and you may not recognize new malware, so make sure you're getting your
software from a trusted source.