How would you programmatically test a file for viruses? [closed]

Question

I want to programmatically test a file for viruses.

I'm aware of this thread, which didn't get a satisfactory answer in my opinion, but I'm not looking for an API here. Any kind of workaround to make it possible to test a file would be fine.

Of course, an API would probably be the best solution (I'm using .net on a Windows platform), but maybe it's possible to drop the file in the folder, and to then check whether I can still open it or if it's been quarantined by the antivirus software.

Has someone run into the same sort of situation?

Answer 1

Assuming you wish to integrate with whatever antivirus is already present on the system rather than bundling your own, you should check out the way Firefox 3 does this.

Bugs 103487 and 408153 - Inform anti-virus software when Firefox downloads an executable (using the Windows "IOfficeAntiVirus" and "IAttachmentExecute" APIs).

(of course if you wish to bundle your own, check out ClamAV/ClamWin, but then you must deal with updates, etc, and you should probably first check there is not a fully updated solution on the target system for politeness)

Answer 2

Windows? No problem. Check out ClamWin. It is based on ClamAV.