Is Your Antivirus Really Working ?

Have you ever wondered if your antivirus software
is really working? Would you like to see what
happens when it detects a virus? Here’s a safe
way to test your computer’s virus protection that
doesn’t require you to have a real virus sample.
First, open Notepad. Then copy and paste into it
the text on the line below. (It should all be on one
line.)
X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-
STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*
Then save it in any name…
Then use your antivirus to scan it…
Explanation:
The file you have created is completely safe. It is
not a virus. It is a standard test file developed by
the European Institute for Computer Anti-
virus Research (EICAR). All anti-virus products
are programmed to detect this file as if it was a
real virus. Therefore you can safely use it to test
whether your anti-virus software works, without
fear of infecting your computer.
If your anti-virus product fail to prevent you from
running the file, it will simply display the text
“EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE” in a
DOS box. No harm will have been done, but you
should probably consider using a better anti-virus
product, because if it had been a real virus, your
computer would by now be infected!