The EICAR test file is a file, developed by the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research, to test the response of computer antivirus (AV) programs. The rationale behind it is to allow people, companies, and AV programmers to test their software without having to use a real computer virus that could cause actual damage should the AV not respond correctly. EICAR likens the use of a live virus to test AV software to setting a fire in a trashcan to test a fire alarm, and promotes the EICAR test file as a safe alternative. EICAR is the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research, was founded in 1990 as an organization aiming to further antivirus research and improving development of antivirus software. ... Anti-virus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware). ... A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. ...

A compliant virus scanner, when detecting the file, will respond in exactly the same manner as if it found genuinely harmful code. Its use can be more versatile than straightforward detection - for example, a file containing the Eicar test string can be compressed or archived, and then the antivirus software can be run to see whether it can detect the test string in the compressed file. “Source coding” redirects here. ... Archive of the AMVC An archive refers to a collection of historical records, and also refers to the location in which these records are kept. ...

The file is simply a text file of either 68 or 70 bytes that is a legitimate executable file called a COM file that can run by Microsoft operating systems and some work-alikes, including OS/2. When executed, will print "EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!" and stop. The test string was specifically engineered to consist of ASCII human-readable characters, easily created using a standard computer keyboard. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Plain text. ... In computer science a byte (pronounced bite) is a unit of measurement of information storage, most often consisting of eight bits. ... In MS-DOS and compatible DOSes, and in 8-bit CP/M, a COM file is a simple type of executable file. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Image:ASCII fullsvg There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126. ...

The Eicar test string reads:

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

Notes:

• The third character in the string is the capital letter O, not a zero.
• Although the string itself is 68 bytes in length, some text editors add an extra blank line (CR+LF) to the end of the file, increasing the size to 70 bytes. This does not affect its functionality.

Look up O, o in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other senses of this word, see zero or 0. ... Originally, carriage return was the term for the key, lever, or mechanism on a typewriter that would cause the cylinder on which the paper was held (the carriage) to return to the left side of the paper after a line of text had been typed, and would often move it... In computing, a newline is a special character or sequence of characters signifying the end of a line of text. ...

See also

• GTUBE - a similar test for unsolicited bulk email (e-mail spam)

The GTUBE (Generic Test for Unsolicited Bulk Email) is a test string used to test anti spam solutions, notably those based on spamassassin. ... E-mail spam, also known as bulk e-mail or junk e-mail is a subset of spam that involves sending nearly identical messages to numerous recipients by e-mail. ...

External links

• The Anti-Virus test file (EICAR)
• The Anti-Virus test file (EICAR) (mirror)
• Assembly-language analysis of the EICAR test file