How to Check If Your Antivirus Is Working or Not On Windows PC?

Nowadays, many computer and laptop users tend to use antivirus programs in their devices. There are many antiviruses available that are easy to get and accessible for scanning your computer. Also, these antiviruses work to eliminate the malicious viruses from your computers and laptops. However, the virus is favorably getting more vulnerable gradually.

You may be using Windows Defender or any of the third-party Antivirus software or any Internet Security Suite in order to protect your Windows 10/8/7 system – doesn’t matter what it is. If you want to check whether your Cloud Protection, Antivirus protection, Protection against Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs), Phishing, Compressed malware, and Drive-by-downloads is properly working or not, then you can do so by using the test files from EICAR & AMTSO.

Important Note: AMTSO or The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization is a worldwide non-profit association that has been developing analysis and tests for people to make sure that their Windows 10 PC is protected and safe. AMTSO offers tools and programs to check if the PC you use is secure from viruses, potentially unwanted applications (PUA), drive-by-downloads, archived malware, and phishing and cloud attacks as well.

Check the PUP Protection

A potentially unwanted application (PUA), also known as a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP), is software that the users may perceive as not needed or unwanted.

Note: When visiting this AMTSO page and downloading the exe file, which creates the download of a PUP. Thus, your security program must immediately block it. If not, you may have the most instructions to fix it.

Check the Virus Protection

Downloading the EICAR Test-file from eicar.org means to mimic to be a malware to trigger Antivirus protection software on your device. If the Antivirus program you use catches it, it proves that the application is configured accurately, and is updated to protect your device against such threats.

If your file is downloaded, you will then receive a message also which is going to have details of your Anti-Malware product along with commands on how you can make this protection possible.

Note: Drive-by downloads take place in two ways. When your file is downloaded in the background without user consent, or when you have been authorized but without being able to understand the consequences. In both of the cases, a malware or EXE can be downloaded, and executed in your device.

Check Protection against Download of Compressed Malware

If the malware is packed in a packed in or compressed file, then your device may be able to download it. However, if the anti-virus program you have has the capability to scan the files located inside a compressed file, then it is likely to be blocked.

Note: If you are looking forward to visiting this AMTSO page, it then starts to download a compressed file that includes an EICAR test-file. Using this way you will be able to test if your antivirus has this functionality or not. When the download is successful, you are then going to see a detailed page of instructions in order to prepare for this type of problems.

Check the Protection against Phishing

There are several Phishing websites, which try to masquerade the official website of sites, especially when about Payments.

Note: While visiting the AMTSO page, and your browser or your system starts to fail in blocking it, then you are going to receive an error message which indicates:

• Your Anti-Malware solution has not (yet) been able to support this Feature Settings Check.
• The Anti-Phishing feature of your Anti-Malware solution is not enabled or misconfigured.

Check If You’re Cloud Protection Is Enabled or Not

This AMTSO page lets you download Cloud-Car Test-file. And this file has been marked by a range of vendors who work to develop Anti-Malware product’s cloud as malicious.

So when the download is finished, you should then understand that you don’t have cloud protections. In easy words, Cloud lookups specify whether your antivirus can receive clarity of new malware from the internet, and is not out-of-date.

Hope this guide will help you learn more consciously about your system or third-party antivirus programs you are using.

Harry Williams is a creative person who has been writing blogs and articles about cyber security. He writes about the latest updates regarding McAfee.com/activate and how it can improve the work experience of users. His articles have been published in many popular e-magazines, blogs and websites.

Source: Help McAfee