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    Torrents

    Discussion in 'Security and Anti-Virus Software' started by orimac11, Jul 7, 2013.

  1. orimac11

    orimac11 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Is there a way to know if an anti-virus is really detecting a virus in a torrent or just a false positive?
    Thanks,
    orimac11
     
    orimac11, Jul 7, 2013
    #1
  2. JOSEA

    JOSEA NONE

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    If a file is detected as a virus I normally use another program to scan it (there are may mentioned in this subforum) especially if the file is mission critical. Some AV programs are more prone to false positives also. What AV are you using ?
     
    JOSEA, Jul 7, 2013
    #2
  3. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Hmmmm ... virus detected in a torrent ... what should I do ... probably just delete it and be on the safe side.
     
    Greg, Jul 7, 2013
    #3
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  4. vkyosho

    vkyosho Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, don't take a chance with a virus. But as the above which AV are you using? I've had mixed experiences and have generally found AVG and MSE (of the free varieties) pretty accurate.
     
    vkyosho, Aug 1, 2013
    #4
  5. Deks

    Deks Notebook Prophet

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    In my personal experience, the torrents I was downloading virtually never contained any viruses or pests (generally, people who share torrents do not have malicious intent or desire for other people's computers to be infected - actually, most try to make sure their torrents are clean).

    To that end, I use MSE, and its the only free AV that didn't label virtually every torrent as having a virus. MSE has the lowest false positives detection rate from what I am able to ascertain, and its been reliable when it came to torrents.
    I also have MBAM, and if I detect a problem with MSE (which is virtually never), I scan with MBAM on-demand occasionally, and it comes up clean (only when MSE reacted did MBAM maybe pick up a problem as well - but these were rare and controlled conditions), but otherwise, no.

    Caution is recommended when downloading torrents, but same can be said for any file you download off the internet.
     
    Deks, Aug 4, 2013
    #5
  6. killkenny1

    killkenny1 Too weird to live, too rare to die.

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    It does (tested with MSE). But usually such DL content is on the shady side, if you know what I mean.
     
    killkenny1, Aug 4, 2013
    #6
  7. gonwk

    gonwk Notebook Deity

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    Orimac11,

    Which Antivirus are you using?

    G! :)
     
    gonwk, Sep 14, 2013
    #7
  8. perrin_aybara

    perrin_aybara Notebook Consultant

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    I tend to upload said file to Virus Total. Thats always a handy website for a second opinion.
     
    perrin_aybara, Dec 2, 2013
    #8
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  9. downloads

    downloads No, Dee Dee, no! Super Moderator

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    That's exactly the way to go. Virus total allows you to scan a file that is up to 64MB and it gets scanned by 48 different AVs.
    I don't see any better way of verifying if the file is safe, not that it's relevant after few months but still... :rolleyes:
     
    downloads, Dec 2, 2013
    #9
  10. ajnindlo

    ajnindlo Notebook Deity

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    This is good, also use VMs, and sandboxie...
     
    ajnindlo, Dec 5, 2013
    #10