Test Your Anti-virus Program

You have an anti-virus program. How can you test that it works?

This is a good question and it is wise to familiarize yourself with how your anti-virus software behaves when it detects a virus, before it really happens. One quick way to do this is to use the EICAR Anti-Virus Test File. This is a test file that will cause no damage to your system and still allow you to test if anti-virus tool is awake.

Here are some steps:

1. Open a text editor (e.g. Notepad)

2. Enter the following text in it:

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

3. Save the file as EICAR.COM on your desktop.

4. Open DOS and try to execute this .COM file (or simply double-click the file on Desktop)

If your anti-virus software is working properly, it will warn you that a virus has been detected when you attempt to run the .COM file.