Traditional antivirus software detects viruses and other malware via signature definitions. EICAR is a non-viral string of code that most antivirus software have included in their signature definition files.
EICAR allows users to check whether their antivirus software is running. For example, if you try to open EICAR.COM, if your realtime protection feature is enabled the antivirus software should generate an alert. You can also manually scan EICAR to test your on-demand scanner.
An EICAR test file can be easily created using any text editor, i.e. Notepad. To create an EICAR test file, copy and paste the following line into a blank Notepad file:
X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*
Save the file as EICAR.COM. It is now ready for testing. In fact, if your active protection was working properly, the simple act of saving the file should have triggered an alert.
