The test is based on standard pattern known as "
Standard Anti-Virus Test File". It is safe to pass around, because it is not
a virus, and does not include any fragments of viral code. Most products react
to it as if it were a virus (though they typically report it with an obvious
name, such as "EICAR-AV-Test"). The file is a legitimate DOS program, and produces
sensible results when run (it prints the message "EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE").
It is also short and simple - in fact, it consists entirely of printable ASCII
characters, so that it can easily be created with a regular text editor. Any
anti-virus product which supports the test file should "detect" it in any file
which starts with the following 68 characters:
X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*
To keep things simple, the file uses only upper case letters, digits and punctuation marks, and does not include spaces. The only thing to watch out for when typing in the test file is that the third character is the capital letter "O", not the digit zero.
You could easely test the protection of your e-mail system by requesting selected
files containing
test strings. Just fill your name, your e-mail, select which files you want
to receiv, and press Submit!
Your comments on this service are very welcome, write to Oleg Titov at info (arroba) aleph-tec (punto) com.
You may want to recommend this service to a friend.
© 2002-2006 by Oleg Titov