My go to service for scanning individual files online for malicious code is VirusTotal. It scans files that you upload to it with 42 different antivirus engines that include the majority of popular engines of the industry. Scanning usually does not take long, with results more often than not displayed near instantly after the file has been uploaded to the service. The file hash is generated and checked against the service’s database first before it is uploaded to check if someone else has uploaded the file to the service. This can save valuable time as there is no need to upload the file again if it has already been scanned previously. Virustotal can scan web pages in addition to files to provide people with safety information.
A new blog post on the official Virustotal blog confirms that the service has been acquired by Google. The Virustotal crew will continue to operate the site independently for the time being while maintaining its relationships with antivirus companies and other industry experts.
An update from VirusTotal
Our goal is simple: to help keep you safe on the web. And we’ve worked hard to ensure that the services we offer continually improve. But as a small, resource-constrained company, that can sometimes be challenging. So we’re delighted that Google, a long-time partner, has acquired VirusTotal. This is great news for you, and bad news for malware generators, because:
- The quality and power of our malware research tools will keep improving, most likely faster; and
- Google’s infrastructure will ensure that our tools are always ready, right when you need them.
VirusTotal will continue to operate independently, maintaining our partnerships with other antivirus companies and security experts. This is an exciting step forward. Google has a long track record working to keep people safe online and we look forward to fighting the good fight together with them.
More importantly, the company can now make use of Google’s infrastructure to provide a more reliable faster service for Internet users that use it. This likely means less downtimes, faster uploads and scans.
Google has not released an official statement yet, which means that we do not know anything about the companies intentions when it comes to the service. It is all possible: from shutting it down like Google did with Meebo to integrating it into Google products such as Gmail, Google Chrome, Chrome OS or Google Search, or using the information provided by the service to enhance Google products.
For now at least, Virustotal continues to operate normally. Lets hope that it stays that way.
DIGITAL JUICE
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