EICAR Test File

Written by zhangyuan February 19, 2008 16:11

What is EICAR? Antivirus software detects viruses based on signature definitions, i.e. known strings of code with a specific algorithm employed to create the individual definitions. EICAR is a non-viral string of code that most antivirus software have included in their signature definition files. EICAR allows users to check whether their antivirus software is running. For example, if you try to open EICAR.COM, if your realtime protection feature is enabled the antivirus software should generate an alert. You can also manually scan EICAR to test your manual (on-demand) scanner.

How do I create EICAR? An EICAR test file can be easily created using any text editor, i.e. Notepad. Copy and paste the following line into a blank Notepad file:

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

Next, save this file as EICAR.COM. It is now ready for testing. In fact, if your active protection was working properly, the simple act of saving the file should have triggered an alert.

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