Eicar test file

[Near_Far 4]

I'm getting acquainted with ESET Smart Security 6.0.316.0 on my Windows XP SP3 laptop.  I generally don't like an autoclean or autoquarantine feature on security software, just in case of false positives.  I have ESS set to not clean if it detects anything wrong.  I do want to be notified of detections, however.  I would like to see how ESS reacts to an Eicar file.  Can one of the moderators here or support staff please post a safe link to a test file for me?  

 

Thanks!

[Marcos 5,070]

See hxxp://www.eicar.org/85-0-Download.html. Given that ESET has extremely low rate of false positives and utilizes mechanisms to prevent false positives on prevalent files, I'd strongly suggest leaving the cleaning mode set at the default level (also it's possible to restore detected files from quarantine). Otherwise you may end up with malware locking your computer without being able to select an action upon detection.

[Near_Far 4]

Thanks for the link, Marcos.  

 

I did test ESET with it set not to clean.  It not only notified me, but it blocked and quarantined when I clicked on the html link and the .zip links.  And that's with ESET set to not automatically clean what it finds.

[Marcos 5,070]

After changing the cleaning mode to "No cleaning" in the Web access protection setup, I was prompted for an action and was able to choose between Disconnect and No action. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend disabling automatic cleaning because:

1, ESET is known for extremely low number of false positives and even in the event of FP you can still restore it from quarantine. 

2, you'd have problems cleaning ransomware without using a rescue medium if gui could not display an action prompt window due to malware.

[Near_Far 4]

Oh, I see there are several places to set the level of cleaning.  I guess I hadn't found them all yet.  

 

I'm still weighing things out in my mind re the risks/benefits of auto cleaning vs. deciding what action a security software should take.  (Honestly, I do have my reasons, having had a few encounters with false positives from other security programs.)