Lord777
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Usually we don't look for viruses, they find us themselves. But there are those who need viruses, and even those who collect these viruses. In today's article I will tell you about such people and about how to create a harmless virus to test protection tools, and about where to download viruses for their further study.
By the way, in the article "Virus sources", you can find a huge number of samples of all kinds of malicious programs: viruses, Trojans, botnets, etc.
Why download viruses and who needs it?
First of all, viruses are needed by people who are engaged in information security. Among them there are those who need to test the operation of antivirus software. Viruses may also be needed by those who are trying to study their behavior during system infection.
There are not many such people, but they are. Here is the channel of one of them. The author of the channel makes videos and reviews of viruses. Agree, the phrase "Virus reviews" sounds rather unusual.
Know! It is completely legal to download viruses for their further study on your computer . But using them to spread and infect other users - NO. For this you can get a decent time. Therefore, think carefully before breaking the law!
Also, if you are not familiar with the topic, then I strongly do not recommend downloading viruses. If you nevertheless decide to download, the our site does not bear any responsibility for your subsequent actions and for any harm caused to your computer.
EICAR Antivirus Test
If you need a virus to check, but you have no desire or ability to download viruses, you can create a harmless virus yourself in just a few seconds.
Eicar antivirus test is a small piece of text that is defined as a virus by all modern antiviruses. It is usually used to test the operation of protection programs.
Here's the code itself:
Code:
X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*Copy the code, create a text file, paste the copied piece of text and save it to any executable file: exe, com, bat, scr, etc. Although any normal antivirus should recognize a threat even in a text file, at the stage of saving it.
Where to download viruses?
If the Eicar test is not enough for you, then here are the services on which you can find different types of viruses.
Before moving on to the overview of the services, I want to warn you once again that it is a very bad omen to download and investigate malware on a work machine. And even if you do it in a virtual machine, then you must do it correctly. I will talk about how to properly configure a virtual machine in the future. For now, just remember, don't run all this malicious stuff on your computer!
Keep in mind that some browsers may block the transition to some services. So add to "temporarily allowed".
Vxvault
The first site I will talk about is called Vxvault. Here you can find a list of viruses, which is updated daily, almost in real time.
All malicious programs are highlighted in three colors:
- Yellow - it is likely that the malware has already been removed
- Dark yellow - malware removed
- Green - malware is available for download
In addition, the site shows the hash of the file, the IP address, and has basic tools for studying malware.
Malc0de
The next virus download site is Malc0de. Not bad service. There is a search. Updated frequently.
Clean-Mx
Clean-Mx is another virus download site. This is my favorite service. This service allows you to search for malware and offers other useful information.
Malshare
Malshare is a service for finding examples of malware. Registration is not required. There is no search, but there are additional tools.
AVCaesar
AVCaesar is another similar service that allows you to download a virus. Registration is required to work with it. There is a hash and name search.
Virusign
Virusign.com is a good site, lots of samples. Updated frequently. Registration is not required.
Virusshare
Virusshare is a good site. Huge database of samples. To download malware, you need to register.
OpenMalware
OpenMalware is not a bad site. There is a database search. Free registration is required to download viruses.
That's all. These services should be enough for everyone. I hope that after reading this article, none of you will get infected with viruses, but only learn more about them.
In the future, I am going to write instructions on how to set up a laboratory for researching viruses at home. Therefore, if you are interested in information security or just want to become a more advanced user, then subscribing to our publics in social networks will not hurt you very much.
