{"id":1566,"date":"2011-04-25T17:04:23","date_gmt":"2011-04-25T21:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=1566"},"modified":"2012-02-26T16:29:30","modified_gmt":"2012-02-26T21:29:30","slug":"check-out-that-suspicious-file-with-this-cloudeight-website-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/check-out-that-suspicious-file-with-this-cloudeight-website-pick\/","title":{"rendered":"Check out that suspicious file with this Cloudeight Website pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"False<\/a>Listen up, class. We’re featuring a serious \t\tchoice for today’s site pick. Come on, turn those frowns upside \t\tdown. Our Cloudeight Site Pick class can’t always be fun and games. I know, \t\tI know, you all love to see me pick on EB, but we have to feature some useful \t\tsites every once in a while or Windows Enquirer will think we are bigger \t\tbuffoons than they already think we are.<\/p>\n

OK. Let’s get right to today’s lesson which is about “False Positives”. No, we’re not going to force you to sit through \t\tan English grammar lesson – and yes “false-positives” is an oxymoron. \tAn oxymoron or not, false-positives” is a computer term used by technophiles to describe files that don’t contain \t\tviruses, Trojans, or other bad stuff, but which trigger anti-virus program warnings \t\tanyway.<\/p>\n

Occasionally a good anti-virus program which is updated and working \t\twell, will detect viruses, Trojans, or other bad things in a file that is perfectly\t\tclean; a file that doesn’t contain anything bad. When this happens it’s called \t\ta “false positive”. And it will happen to you eventually, no matter which \t\tanti-virus application you use. The only time you need to be concerned about the veracity of your anti-virus program is if it continually reports false \t\tpositives. In this care you need to consider changing anti-virus programs \t\tbecause obviously something is wrong with yours.<\/p>\n

First of all, if you download a file from a \t\tsite you trust and from which you’ve downloaded before – or one that has \t\ta good reputation…\u00a0and still your anti-virus \t\tdetects something wrong with the file you downloaded, you should suspect \t\tthat it’s a false positive.<\/p>\n

Some of you won’t trust anything but your anti-virus \t\t– which may not always work out well for you. But if you’re one of those \t\t“Doubting Thomas” types or you are downloading from a site about which you \t\tcan’t find much information, we’re happy to tell you that we’ve almost gotten \t\tto the focal point: i.e.today’s site pick<\/a>. And, yes, I can hear your collective sighs of relief \t\tand I’m happy that you’re sighing because that means you’re still awake.<\/p>\n

We’re happy to tell you that there’s a site \t\twhere you can send that file that got your anti-virus program all worked \t\tup and test it find out if it’s just a false positive or if it’s like Coca \t\tCola – you know, the real thing. Some of you are thinking, “gee, I don’t \t\teven want to touch this file because it may blow up my computer”. Well you \t\tdon’t really have to touch it, and since you’ve already (obviously) downloaded \t\tit and it’s already there on your hard drive, you may as well find out if \t\tit’s safe or not. Time for a reminder here –\u00a0 we’re talking about the \t\tfiles you downloaded from a site you trust or one with a generally good \t\treputation here which your anti-virus has warned you contains a virus – \t\twe’re not talking about files you download from some off-the-wall crack \t\tsite or some obnoxious, um, less-than-savory sites that some of you visit \t\t– come on admit it – we know some of you do, don’t lie to me, I’m your teacher!<\/p>\n

Here’s a good example for you: The last time \t\twe released a stationery collection, several people who were using Norton were worried that we had suddenly joined Darth Vader on the dark \t\tside or had decided to get careless and blow our good reputation which took \t\tus twelve years to build. Norton’s anti-virus component was detecting a Trojan \t\tin our files. Our files were safe \t\t– as usual. And we hadn’t gotten sloppy or careless. Norton was \t\treporting a false-positive, AGAIN. Nevertheless, it makes us look bad, when this \t\thappens\u00a0 – especially if this is the first time someone has ever had \t\tcontact with our site. Even though a quick google of “Cloudeight” would have eased \t\ttheir minds; but sometimes people don’t always do what they should. No, I’m \t\tnot looking at you in particular, EB; do you have a guilty conscience?<\/p>\n

Now, we’re happy to get to the point. Today’s \t\tsite pick<\/a> gives you the \t\topportunity to get a quick assessment of any file that your anti-virus program \t\tidentifies as a virus, Trojan, etc.. It’s called \t\tVirusTotal<\/a>. It’s a free service \t\tthat is run by an independent company in co-operation with all the big names \t\tin anti-virus software including AVAST, Trend Micro, Symantec, McAfee, Avira, \t\tAVG, Panda, and yada, yada, yada. Just about all of them OK? All you have \t\tto do is visit VirusTotal<\/a>, upload \t\tthe suspicious file, and you’ll be able to tell if it’s a false positive \t\tor if the file is really infected. If your anti-virus is the only one detecting \t\ta virus in the file then you can bet that it’s a false positive – which means the file is safe. If it is a false-positive, then you should report it to the company who makes your anti-virus program \t\tso they can fix it. It’s always good to assist your anti-virus company by \t\treporting false-positives right away. It makes your anti-virus program better.<\/p>\n

As your teacher, I’ve asked the developer’s \t\tof VirusTotal tell you about this service. Notice how laconic they are as \t\topposed to yours truly:<\/p>\n

“About VirusTotal<\/p>\n

VirusTotal is a service that analyzes suspicious files and facilitates the \t\tquick detection of viruses, worms, trojans, and all kinds of malware detected \t\tby antivirus engines.<\/p>\n

Specs:<\/p>\n

* Free, independent service
\n* Use of multiple antivirus engines
\n* Real-time automatic updates of virus signatures
\n* Detailed results from each antivirus engine
\n* Real time global statistics<\/p>\n

…Warning:<\/p>\n

VirusTotal is not substitute any antivirus software installed in a PC, as \t\tit only scans individual files on demand. It does not offer permanent protection \t\tfor the user’s system either.<\/p>\n

Although the detection rate afforded by the use of multiple antivirus engines \t\tis far superior to that offered by just one product, these results DO NOT \t\tguarantee the harmlessness of a file.<\/p>\n

Currently, there is not any solution that offers a 100% effectiveness rate \t\tfor detecting viruses and malware. You may become a victim of misleading \t\tadvertising, if you buy such a product under those premises.”<\/p>\n

So, the next time your anti-virus program goes \t\toff in a tizzy when you download a file from a site you trust or a site \t\twhich has a good reputation – don’t assume that the site has suddenly turned \t\tinto a vile villain viciously determined to infect your computer with all \t\tmanner of odious stuff.\u00a0 Use our \t\tsite pick – VirusTotal<\/a> to find out if your anti-virus is reporting \t\ta false-positive. If it is reporting a false-positive, do your civic duty \t\tand notify the company that makes your anti-virus program so they can fix \t\tit – and make your anti-virus program better. False-positives mean something’s \t\twrong with your anti-virus program and that’s not a good thing. \t\tVirusTotal is a very useful site<\/a>.. \t\tUse it!<\/p>\n

Class dismissed!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen up, class. We’re featuring a serious choice for today’s site pick. Come on, turn those frowns upside down. Our Cloudeight Site Pick class can’t always be fun and games. I know, I know, you all love to see me pick on EB, but we have to feature some useful sites every once in a while or Windows\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[15,1011,1010],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3865,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566\/revisions\/3865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}