The old Virustotal had a file size limit of 20 Megabyte which worked fine for most executables and setups, but not for all. If you encountered a single file that exceeded the 20 Megabyte limit, you could not use the service to scan it at all. The service had other issues that users encountered every now and then, like large queues or pages that were not loading properly.

The developers have recently updated the service website and virus scanning service that improves Virustotal considerably.

When you open the service’s homepage you will notice two of the changes right away.

The first is a new professional feel and look, the second that Virustotal now accepts file sizes of up to 32 Megabytes. That’s a reasonable 60% increase that should resolve the majority of “file size to big” issues that users encountered previously on the site.

Once you upload a file you will notice that the reporting interface has changed as well.

The url scanner is now supporting a total of 19 different scan engines that includes a mix of well known (Google Safebrowsing, Opera, Phishtank) and lesser known services. Some url scanning services provide additional information that are now also displayed in the scan results.

Virustotal has moved to Google’s App Engine Service which, according to the developers, speeds up the analysis significantly. Developers of third party apps now benefit from faster response times thanks to a public API update.

Virustotal has improved significantly thanks to the recent update. Especially the maximum file size increase needs to be mentioned in this regard.

Have you used the new version yet? If so, what is your impression of the service? (via Dottech)

No Virus Thanks is a similar service that supports 20 different antivirus engines (Virus Total supports 42). The most important engines on the other hand are supported like those from Kaspersky, F-Prot, Trend Micro, Dr. Web, Panda or AVG. The limitations are also similar. Files up to a size of 20 Megabytes can be uploaded directly on the No Virus Thanks website.

The No Virus Thanks Uploader can be installed to send files directly from the Windows operating system to the online service. The tool limits the size of the files that can be uploaded to 5 Megabytes. It is not really clear why the developers have made the decision to reduce the allowed file size. Files larger than 5 Megabytes need to be uploaded manually on the website.

The uploader displays a file browser, the running processes, Registry startups and options to search old files, display the list of drivers and loaded dlls; all of which can be uploaded to No Virus Thanks for the antivirus check. (The drivers list and loaded dlls tab did not display results on our Windows 7 64-bit bit operating system).

The No Virus Thanks Uploader contains a downloader as well that can be used to scan remote files with the antivirus scanner.

No Virus Thanks is a viable alternative to Virus Total that comes in handy if the Virus Total service is busy or unreachable.

CW Sandbox is a web service with a similar looking frontend like all the other online virus scanners. What sets it apart is the remote secure environment that it uses to execute and analyze the files that get uploaded. It uses a sandbox to execute the file and will log all system activity that is connected to the file launch. The file analysis contains a summary but also detailed changes to the file system, the Windows Registry and network activity plus a technical summary with additional information.

Each report is divided into different categories. The File Changes for example contains categories that list newly created, opened and deleted files and a summary that lists all file operations in chronological order. The network activity analysis will detail connections that have been established including host names, IP addresses and if data has been posted to one of those addresses.

The submit form on the website of the project accepts files with a maximum size of 16 Megabytes. Zip files with up to 50 files can be uploaded to the service as well if the password is set to “infected”. A link to the file analysis will be send to the email address that the user enters when submitting the files.

CW Sandbox is an excellent online service that provides an in depth analysis of submitted files. The only drawbacks are the 16 Megabyte file size limit and that the reports are send to an email address with an undefined wait time. A ticket system on the website directly detailing the place in queue and the estimated wait time would be really helpful for users who are submitting files to the service.

Norton’s Security Scan (via JK Web Talks) is such a software. While it has been primarily designed to sell a Norton antivirus product like Norton 360 it can be used to scan the system without interfering with the current antivirus solution. What makes it interesting is that it uses the latest virus definition files that are also used in Norton retail antivirus software products. It does however perform only a partial scan of the computer system by default but this option can be changed in the settings on the main page.

The antivirus software program will check the virus definition file and initiate a download of the latest if it is outdated. The antivirus software will then either perform a quick or full scan of the computer system. A quick scan will only check the most common locations where viruses and other malicious programs are found while the full system scan will check all files located on connected hard drives.

The interface will display banner advertisement during the scan; Most users will probably minimize the program interface or move other applications into the foreground to prevent those distracting advertisements from appearing on the computer screen. Norton Security Scan will list all discovered threads in a table on the main page providing information about the type of threat (e.g. tracking cookie) including a description, the threat name and target name.

The antivirus program is only a scanner which means it is not possible to clean the files directly. Possibilities include research on the Internet to find a free antivirus software that can clean it or to contact the developer of the installed antivirus solution about the problem. It should be obvious by now that the program is great for users who want to perform additional security scans of their computer system but not for those who are looking for a complete security solution.

The file upload limit of No Virus Thanks is 20 Megabytes which means that it is not possible to upload files larger than that. The site has a rather low queue of 30 items and displays the current queue number in the upload form. It usually does not take long to process an upload though. The status is shown after uploading the file to the online virus scanner.

The report contains a detailed analysis of the uploaded file including results of each antivirus engine that has been used to scan the file. One interesting option of the online virus scanner is the option to paste a MD5 hash into a form on the website. This can reduce the time before a result will be displayed if the file has already been uploaded and analyzed by another user of the service.

You can also check the article about online virus scanners that lists several websites that will scan the computer with one antivirus engine usually provided by the software developer of antivirus software.