> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wiki.zacheller.dev/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wiki.zacheller.dev/exploit-dev-analysis/static-analysis/antivirus-scanning.md).

# Antivirus Scanning

## First Step

* Mainly rely on
  * a database of identifiable pieces of known suspicious code (file signatures)
  * behavioral and pattern-matching analysis (heuristics)
* It can be useful to run several different antivirus programs against the same piece of suspected malware
* Malware can easily change its signature and fool the antivirus
* [VirusTotal](http://www.virustotal.com/) is convenient, but using it may alert attackers that they’ve been caught
