{"id":5549,"date":"2013-03-21T07:17:04","date_gmt":"2013-03-21T11:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=5549"},"modified":"2013-03-21T07:17:04","modified_gmt":"2013-03-21T11:17:04","slug":"false-positives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/false-positives\/","title":{"rendered":"False Positives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s Computer Lesson: False Positives
\n<\/strong>All computer users<\/p>\n

Let’s say your name is Listen up, class. We\u2019re featuring a serious choice for today\u2019s class. Come on, turn those frowns upside down. Our classes can\u2019t always be fun and folly. I know, I know, you all love to see me pick on EB, but we have to get serious every once in a while or, The Windows Enquirer will think we are bigger buffoons than they already think we are.<\/p>\n

OK. Let\u2019s get right to today\u2019s lesson which is about \u201cFalse Positives\u201d. No, we\u2019re not going to force you to sit through an English grammar lesson \u2013 and yes \u201cfalse-positives\u201d is an oxymoron. An oxymoron or not, false-positives\u201d is a computer term used by technophiles to describe files that don\u2019t contain viruses, Trojans, or other bad stuff, but which trigger anti-virus program warnings anyway.<\/p>\n

Occasionally a good anti-virus program which is updated and working well, will detect viruses, Trojans, or other bad things in a file that is perfectly clean; a file that doesn\u2019t contain anything bad. When this happens it\u2019s called a \u201cfalse positive\u201d. And it will happen to you eventually, no matter which anti-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 positives. In this care you need to consider changing anti-virus programs because obviously something is wrong with yours.<\/p>\n

First of all, if you download a file from a site you trust and from which you\u2019ve downloaded before \u2013 or one that has a good reputation\u2026 and still your anti-virus detects something wrong with the file you downloaded, you should suspect that it\u2019s a false positive.<\/p>\n

Some of you won\u2019t trust anything but your anti-virus \u2013 which may not always work out well for you. But if you\u2019re one of those \u201cDoubting Thomas\u201d types or you are downloading from a site about which you can\u2019t find much information, we\u2019re happy to tell you that we\u2019ve almost gotten to the point. And, yes, I can hear your collective sighs of relief and I\u2019m happy that you\u2019re sighing because that means you\u2019re still awake.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re happy to tell you that there\u2019s a site where you can send that file that got your anti-virus program all worked up. A site that lets you test it to find out if it\u2019s just a false positive or if it\u2019s like Coca Cola \u2013 you know, the real thing. Some of you are thinking, \u201cgee, I don\u2019t even want to touch this file because it may blow up my computer\u201d. Well you don\u2019t really have to touch it, and since you\u2019ve already (obviously) downloaded it and it\u2019s already there on your hard drive, you may as well find out if it\u2019s safe or not. Time for a reminder here – we\u2019re talking about the files you downloaded from a site you trust or one with a generally good reputation, which your anti-virus has warned you about. We\u2019re not talking about files you downloaded from some off-the-wall crack site or some obnoxious, um, less-than-savory site that some of you may visit \u2013 come on admit it! Don’t lie to me. I\u2019m your teacher!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a good example for you: When we release a stationery collections, there are always several people who write and think we’ve finally joined Darth Vader on the dark side; or that we had decided to get careless and blow our good reputation which took us fourteen years to build. Some anti-virus programs were detecting a Trojan in our files. Of course, our files were safe \u2013 as usual. We haven’t gotten sloppy or careless. Those antivirus programs were reporting a false-positive, Nevertheless, it makes us look bad, when this happens \u2013 especially if this is the first time someone has ever had contact with our site. Even though a quick google of \u201cCloudeight\u201d would have eased their minds most don’t bother. They download something, then the alarms go off and they never come back to our site again. But people don’t always do what they should. No, I\u2019m not looking at you in particular, EB; do you have a guilty conscience?<\/p>\n

Now, we\u2019re happy to get to the point. Today we’re going to remind you about a site we’ve told you about before. A site that gives you the opportunity to get a quick assessment of any file that your anti-virus program identifies as a virus, Trojan, etc.. It\u2019s called VirusTotal. It\u2019s a free service that is run by an independent company in co-operation with all the big names in anti-virus software including AVAST, Trend Micro, Symantec, McAfee, Avira, AVG, Panda, and yada, yada, yada. Just about all of them OK? All you have to do is visit VirusTotal, upload the suspicious file, and you\u2019ll be able to tell right away if it\u2019s a false positive or if the file is really infected. If your anti-virus is the only one detecting a virus in the file then you can bet that it\u2019s a false positive \u2013 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 so they can fix it. It\u2019s always good to assist your anti-virus company by reporting false-positives. It makes your anti-virus program better.<\/p>\n

As your teacher, I\u2019ve asked the developer\u2019s of VirusTotal tell you about this service. Notice how laconic they are:<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout VirusTotal<\/p>\n

VirusTotal is a service that analyzes suspicious files and facilitates the quick detection of viruses, worms, Trojans, and all kinds of malware detected by 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

\u2026Warning:<\/p>\n

VirusTotal is not substitute any antivirus software installed in a PC, as it only scans individual files on demand. It does not offer permanent protection for the user\u2019s system either.<\/p>\n

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

Currently, there is not any solution that offers a 100% effectiveness rate for detecting viruses and malware. You may become a victim of misleading advertising, if you buy such a product under those premises.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, the next time your anti-virus program goes off in a tizzy when you download a file from a site you trust or a site which has a good reputation \u2013 don\u2019t assume that the site has suddenly turned into a vile villain viciously determined to infect your computer with all manner of odious stuff. Use VirusTotal to find out if your anti-virus is reporting a false-positive. If it is reporting a false-positive, do your civic duty and notify the company that makes your anti-virus program so they can fix it \u2013 and make your anti-virus program better. False-positives mean something\u2019s wrong with your anti-virus program and that\u2019s not a good thing. VirusTotal is a very useful site.. Use it! Visit\u00a0http:\/\/virustotal.com\/<\/a>\u00a0and check out them there softwares!<\/p>\n

Class dismissed!<\/p>\n

Now don’t be late!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s Computer Lesson: False Positives All computer users Let’s say your name is Listen up, class. We\u2019re featuring a serious choice for today\u2019s class. Come on, turn those frowns upside down. Our classes can\u2019t always be fun and folly. I know, I know, you all love to see me pick on EB, but we have to get serious\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549"}],"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=5549"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5550,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549\/revisions\/5550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}