EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE

The EICAR.COM test file can be obtained from either http://www.eicar.com or by copying the text below into NOTEPAD and saving the file as EICAR.COM:

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

This is not a virus however is a tool designed to determine if an antivirus product is installed properly. This is a small .COM file used to test the effectiveness and operability of on-access and/or on-demand scanning of an antivirus product.

This tool is an industry recognized testing file. The name is derived from an organization named EICAR, or European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research. The file and its use is also described at this website.

The file is comprised of a test string, and is a DOS programs executable. Running should not do anything more than display to the screen this message:

The file will be 68 bytes in length and is executable on Intel platforms. If on-access scanning is enabled, the file will be detected during the save process in NOTEPAD.

For more information visit:

http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm