In the eternal fight against the most dangerous malware, more and more users decide to rely on online antivirus scanners, based on cloud technology, capable of scanning for threats without the need to install anything on the computer (or to install only the minimum necessary to scan). These scanners allow you to identify the threats that are still present and perhaps escaped the resident antivirus but it is necessary to choose the right antivirus online: a mistake in the choice and you risk ending up in the hands of fake antivirus (also called rogue antivirus), which can instead become them themselves a problem for the computer.
In the following chapters you can read all the information on the best online antivirus, so you can scan any computer (desktop or notebook) as soon as you have a doubt or immediately after a suspicious download from the Internet, so as to intervene before the threat spreads and damage other files or programs.
What online antiviruses do
Online antiviruses fall into four broad categories, based on the features they offer:
As it is easy to understand, all these security tools, taken individually, cannot completely replace a traditional antivirus installed on a PC, given that the resident scanning module (the one that remains in memory to intercept threats on the fly) and other security modules is missing. effective in countering all types of threats (for example the web scan module or the module to scan network connections). However, nothing prevents you from using these tools occasionally to do a thorough scan of your PC, to scan a link or file before opening them or to test the behavior of executable files.
Online antivirus scan - the best tools
The internet is really full of online scanners that can be used on Windows, but only a few deserve to be saved as a browser bookmark and used when needed. By reading the following chapters of the guide, you can take a look at the best online antivirus and the best advanced security tools that can be used free of charge by all users looking for an external opinion on a specific file or on a link received via email or via social media.
SafetyDetectives
To check the absolute reliability of your computer, you can use the service offered by SafetyDetectives, which analyzes the device in real time for known vulnerabilities (also called CVE). This service does not allow you to find any malware present on the system, but offers a careful analysis of the ability to resist the most complex infections.
Most modern malware exploits known vulnerabilities to spread or take control of the operating system; analyzing a computer with SafetyDetectives it is possible to find out if it is safe from known vulnerabilities, so as to help the antivirus in repelling the most complex threats. If the site reports one or more known vulnerabilities for the computer or device in use, it is advisable to immediately update the operating system and choose a new, more effective antivirus.
VirusTotal
Among the best tools to analyze an unknown file or a link received via email we find the online scanner offered by VirusTotal. Once the file or link has been uploaded to the site, it will be analyzed by a series of antivirus (even for a fee), so as to be able to detect the presence of hidden threats or dangerous viruses.
With VirusTotal you can quickly find out if a file or link contains a virus, but you also need to pay attention to false positives: some antiviruses tend to be too zealous, distorting the result. To be sure that a scanned file or link really represents a threat, make sure there are at least 6 antivirus detections; obviously, the higher the number of surveys, the higher the risk.
Eset Online Scanner
To scan a computer that is suspicious or at risk of malware, you can rely on Eset Online Scanner, a free tool that can be installed on all modern versions of Windows. With this scanner it is possible to check every sensitive area of the system and, in case of detection, the ESET engine will remove it.
This tool is very powerful and effective for carrying out periodic system scans, but it still requires an internet connection to work and does not have an always-on resident scan engine (available in the ESET Internet Security suite, which you need to pay with with a subscription).
>> Go to the ESET Internet Security price list
F-Secure Online Scanner
Another good tool to fully scan your PC for viruses and other dangerous threats is F-Secure Online Scanner. It is one of the best complete scanners that you can use for free on all PCs: it is enough to download the executable file from the site, run it and wait for the scan to finish.
The tool uses the cloud scanning engine to immediately find all new threats and is able to remove them without particular problems; as for all the solutions seen so far, there is no resident module, so it is possible to use F-Secure Online Scanner only for periodic scans.
HouseCall (Trend Micro)
Among the complete scanners that you can try on the Windows operating system stands out HouseCall, provided by the security house TrendMicro. This scanner is probably the most complete of all those tested, as it offers different types of scanning (fast, complete and customized) adaptable to the needs of all users.
Once you have chosen the scanning speed, just wait for the response and check if there are malware inside the device: in case of detection, the tool will clean the system, so you can continue to use the PC without problems. As for all the programs seen in this guide, the resident scanning module is not present, which must be chosen among the free antivirus or among the paid solutions offered by MicroTrend.
MetaDefender
Another good targeted scan engine that you can use exclusively online (without downloading anything to your computer) is MetaDefender. Similar to when seen on VirusTotal, this new site allows you to scan files, domains, web links, IP addresses, hashes and CVEs in a simple and immediate way.
Loading the file, the executable or anything else inside the interface (for files you can use the button in the shape of a paperclip) just press on Process to start the online scanning process. At the end of the scan you will get a complete analysis divided into three large sections: Metascan (i.e. the classic online antivirus scan with 37 commercial antiviruses), Sandbox Threat Score (running executable files in a sandbox to check their behavior) and finally Community Insight (rating given by the community to the file or content uploaded). If a file fails the tests in one of the three sections it is highly likely that it is a threat to our computer, although it is still preferable to click on one of the buttons under the scans to get more information.
VirSCAN
For those looking for a valid alternative to VirusTotal as an online antivirus, you can use the service offered by VirSCAN. This site allows you to upload any type of file (with a maximum size of 20MB) and multi-file scanning (starting from a compressed ZIP file), so you can scan all files or links of dubious origin, received via USB stick or by email.
Also in this case, the use of the service is really very simple: uploaded the file at the top of the site (Choose file button) just press the Scan button to start the online virus scan with over 40 products, chosen from the best commercial antivirus . After a few seconds it is possible to obtain the complete report on the scan: if the file is identified as a threat by more than 10 antivirus, the file is definitely suspicious and should never be opened, if it exceeds 15 it is almost certainly a virus so it is better to delete it and start a scan with a resident antivirus or one of the online scanners seen in this guide.
YOMI
One of the most effective online virus scanners in identifying threats from unknown files or suspicious web links is YOMI. This online service works only for subscribers, but registration is free and it is therefore relatively easy to access the features of the service even without having to pay anything.
After having finished registering for the service, simply drag the file into the site interface or press the YOROI icon to open the system management software and upload the file. At the end of the upload, a special sandbox will be launched in which the file will be scanned and its behavior will also be emulated within an operating system, so as to be able to analyze in detail the behavior of the file once started. This tool is especially dedicated to “virus hunters”, who can thus generate complete reports on the operation of an alleged virus and also discover new threats, simply by analyzing the behavior of the file within the sandbox.
Frequent questions
After having seen which are the best online antiviruses and which are the security tools that can be used on the web, below you can find an answer to the most common questions asked by users, so as to be able to clarify any doubts that may arise before or during use. of one of the tools or tools seen in the previous chapters.
Are online antiviruses free?
All the tools in the guide are free for personal use: you can therefore use them without time limit to scan or to find malware inside unknown links or files. Only one site requires an account to be used, but registration is free so there are no particular problems from this point of view.
To be on the safe side and avoid running into a fake or even malicious antivirus, make sure to use only the links reported in this guide: many rogues pretend to be known antiviruses but do not scan anything and behave more like spyware, that is spy software capable to compromise the use of the browser or operating system. So be wary of other software not mentioned in the guide or that do not have any reviews on the web.
Do online virus scanners really work?
All the online virus scanners reported in the guide work very well and allow you to find threats even before opening a file and also find viruses not reported by other free or ineffective antivirus. The sites that work as sandboxes are really very useful in identifying "0-day" threats, that is, threats not yet identified by any antivirus: by analyzing the behavior of a particular file it is possible to understand if it is malicious or not, even if it is however, it is necessary to have an excellent programming base. The simplest scanners are really within everyone's reach and offer valuable help to keep your PC safe.
All the tools and web tools indicated in the guide must in any case be taken as the solvers of all problems: in the absence of the resident component they can only intervene with a manual user scan, so it is always advisable to choose a good antivirus to constantly protect the PC .
Can online antiviruses remove viruses / malware?
Antivirus tools that perform a targeted scan or that only offer a sandbox do not allow you to remove the threats included in the loaded file or executable: they are only useful as a test but cannot remove a malicious file or delete a web link that contains an infected resource.
On the other hand, online antiviruses that perform a full scan also offer the removal of detected threats, so as to be able to remove the threats found in the PC and, in the long term, convince users to switch to a higher level protection (since the large security house scans offer only a fraction of the protection offered by a paid solution).
Do the scans take place with respect for privacy?
All scans carried out with the tools in the guide respect the privacy of users: no one will know who uploaded a specific file to be analyzed on a targeted scanner (the result is stored only through a randomly generated hash) and the files scanned with the Total scanners will not be saved on any server, even if cloud technologies are used for scanning.
Obviously, trust is good up to a certain point: it is advisable to avoid using these tools for files that contain personal information (passwords, emails, access codes, etc.) and to use them only to scan executables or unknown files downloaded from the Internet. . Nothing prevents you from using it even as a simple online scanning system to identify web threats even before the antivirus can detect them and sound the alarm.
Summary and conclusions
Having an antivirus up and running on your PC may not always be synonymous with a safe system, especially if we don't worry about updating the antivirus or starting a periodic scan: for this and for other reasons it is always advisable to have a complete scanner at hand independent, capable of operating thanks to cloud-based scanning technology. At periodic intervals (even once a month) it is possible to start one of the scan tools and check if the system is clean or hides some invisible threats, escaped from the main antivirus.
The same full scan tools are also good for scanning infected computers or computers that have the classic symptoms of an infection (slowdowns, program locks, windows that open suddenly, etc.): by starting one of the recommended scanners it is possible to clean PCs without having to focus on paid solutions or even worse without having to completely format the computer.
If, on the other hand, we often receive or download unknown files, documents of unknown origin or receive files via email, it is always better not to open anything and use one of the targeted scanners or one of the sandboxes seen above; only in this way will we avoid infecting the PC, discovering well in advance the presence of a hidden threat in the file or in the link. Obviously we do not take at face value everything that the online virus scanners show us: remember that there are also false positives and if a file is identified as a threat by only 2 or 3 antiviruses (out of 30 or 40) it is not automatically synonymous with a threat, given that some zealous antivirus could still identify as "suspicious" the behavior of very useful administrative tools or programs intended to scan networks or packets passing through the computer (typical of programs intended for network sniffing).