<s>
VirusTotal	B-Application
is	O
a	O
website	O
created	O
by	O
the	O
Spanish	O
security	O
company	O
Hispasec	O
Sistemas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Launched	O
in	O
June	O
2004	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
in	O
September	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
's	O
ownership	O
switched	O
in	O
January	O
2018	O
to	O
Chronicle	O
,	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
VirusTotal	B-Application
aggregates	O
many	O
antivirus	B-Application
products	O
and	O
online	O
scan	O
engines	O
called	O
Contributors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
aggregated	O
data	O
from	O
these	O
Contributors	O
allows	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
check	O
for	O
viruses	O
that	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
own	O
antivirus	B-Application
software	I-Application
may	O
have	O
missed	O
,	O
or	O
to	O
verify	O
against	O
any	O
false	O
positives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Anti-virus	B-Application
software	I-Application
vendors	O
can	O
receive	O
copies	O
of	O
files	O
that	O
were	O
flagged	O
by	O
other	O
scans	O
but	O
passed	O
by	O
their	O
own	O
engine	O
,	O
to	O
help	O
improve	O
their	O
software	O
and	O
,	O
by	O
extension	O
,	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
's	O
own	O
capability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
also	O
scan	O
suspect	O
URLs	O
and	O
search	O
through	O
the	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
dataset	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VirusTotal	B-Application
uses	O
the	O
Cuckoo	O
sandbox	O
for	O
dynamic	O
analysis	O
of	O
malware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VirusTotal	B-Application
was	O
selected	O
by	O
PC	O
World	O
as	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
best	O
100	O
products	O
of	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VirusTotal	B-Application
's	O
Windows	O
Uploader	O
was	O
an	O
application	O
that	O
integrates	O
into	O
the	O
Explorer	O
's	O
(	O
right-click	O
)	O
contextual	O
menu	O
,	O
listed	O
under	O
Send	O
To	O
>	O
Virus	B-Application
Total	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
VirusTotal	B-Application
stores	O
the	O
name	O
and	O
various	O
hashes	O
for	O
each	O
scanned	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Already	O
scanned	O
files	O
can	O
be	O
identified	O
by	O
their	O
known	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
VT	O
default	O
)	O
SHA256	B-Algorithm
hash	O
without	O
uploading	O
complete	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SHA256	B-Algorithm
query	O
URL	O
has	O
the	O
form	O
https://www.virustotal.com/latest-scan/SHA256	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
discontinued	O
support	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	O
Uploader	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Same	O
as	O
the	O
Windows	O
app	B-Application
you	O
upload	O
the	O
file	O
(	O
via	O
the	O
app	B-Application
's	O
UI	O
or	O
context	O
menu	O
)	O
then	O
you	O
will	O
be	O
given	O
back	O
a	O
result	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Mac	O
OS	O
X	O
app	B-Application
can	O
be	O
downloaded	O
from	O
their	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
you	O
need	O
to	O
compile	O
and	O
build	O
the	O
app	B-Application
for	O
Linux	O
using	O
the	O
same	O
core	O
(	O
provided	O
in	O
their	O
repository	O
)	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
Mac	O
OS	O
X	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Already	O
scanned	O
files	O
can	O
be	O
identified	O
by	O
their	O
known	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
VT	O
default	O
)	O
SHA256	B-Algorithm
hash	O
without	O
uploading	O
complete	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
several	O
browser	O
extensions	O
available	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
VT4Browsers	O
for	O
Mozilla	B-Application
Firefox	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
and	O
vtExplorer	O
for	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
allow	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
download	O
files	O
directly	O
with	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
's	O
web	O
application	O
prior	O
to	O
storing	O
them	O
in	O
the	O
computer	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
scanning	O
URLs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
service	O
also	O
offers	O
an	O
Android	B-Application
App	B-Application
that	O
employs	O
the	O
public	O
API	B-General_Concept
to	O
search	O
any	O
installed	O
application	O
for	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
's	O
previously	O
scanned	O
ones	O
and	O
show	O
its	O
status	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
application	O
not	O
previously	O
scanned	O
can	O
be	O
submitted	O
,	O
but	O
an	O
API	B-General_Concept
key	O
must	O
be	O
provided	O
and	O
other	O
restrictions	O
to	O
public	O
API	B-General_Concept
usage	O
may	O
apply	O
(	O
see	O
#Public	O
API	B-General_Concept
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VirusTotal	B-Application
provides	O
as	O
a	O
free	O
service	O
a	O
public	O
API	B-General_Concept
that	O
allows	O
for	O
automation	O
of	O
some	O
of	O
its	O
online	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
upload	O
and	O
scan	O
files	O
,	O
submit	O
and	O
scan	O
URLs	O
,	O
access	O
finished	O
scan	O
reports	O
and	O
make	O
automatic	O
comments	O
on	O
URLs	O
and	O
samples	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
restrictions	O
apply	O
for	O
requests	O
made	O
through	O
the	O
public	O
API	B-General_Concept
,	O
such	O
as	O
requiring	O
an	O
individual	O
API	B-General_Concept
key	O
freely	O
obtained	O
by	O
online	O
signing	O
up	O
,	O
low	O
priority	O
scan	O
queue	O
,	O
limited	O
number	O
of	O
requests	O
per	O
time	O
frame	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Antivirus	B-Application
engines	O
used	O
for	O
detection	O
for	O
uploading	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Antivirus	B-Application
scanning	O
engines	O
used	O
for	O
URL	O
scanning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Files	O
uploaded	O
to	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
may	O
be	O
shared	O
freely	O
with	O
anti-malware	B-Application
companies	O
and	O
will	O
also	O
be	O
retained	O
in	O
a	O
store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
About	O
Page	O
states	O
under	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
and	O
confidentiality	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Files	O
and	O
URLs	O
sent	O
to	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
will	O
be	O
shared	O
with	O
antivirus	B-Application
vendors	O
and	O
security	O
companies	O
so	O
as	O
to	O
help	O
them	O
in	O
improving	O
their	O
services	O
and	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
any	O
file/URL	O
submitted	O
to	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
which	O
is	O
detected	O
by	O
at	O
least	O
one	O
scanner	O
is	O
freely	O
sent	O
to	O
all	O
those	O
scanners	O
that	O
do	O
not	O
detect	O
the	O
resource	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
all	O
files	O
and	O
URLs	O
enter	O
a	O
private	O
store	O
that	O
may	O
be	O
accessed	O
by	O
premium	O
(	O
mainly	O
security/antimalware	O
companies/organizations	O
)	O
VirusTotal	B-Application
users	O
so	O
as	O
to	O
improve	O
their	O
security	O
products	O
and	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
