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HouseCall Offers Free, Web-based Virus Scanning

Have the heartbreak of macro viruses? I.E. 3.0 users can download the latest bug scrubber.

By Paul Heltzel, PCWorld   

A directory tree of your system appears in your Web browser (you%squotll need Internet Explorer 3.0 or higher). Like other antivirus software, the user chooses which drives or directories to scan. If the program discovers a virus, infected files can be cleaned or deleted if the file cannot be removed.

Though the system detects recently released viruses, it cannot provide full-time protection like a memory-resident program, such as the desktop version of the program, PC-cillin II.

%dquotMy biggest concern would be that the real-time protection wouldn%squott be there,%dquot said Jonathan Wheat, senior antivirus lab analyst for the National Computer Security Association. %dquotThat%squots the significant application that should be run, the background stuff.%dquot

The program does, however, maintain an updated list of recently released in-the-wild viruses. A new version of HouseCall will download if the virus list has been updated since the program was last run.

%dquotThere%squots about 20 new viruses that make it to the list every month,%dquot Wheat said. %dquotEven if you have a January scanner, there are possibly 75 new viruses circulating that it won%squott report. So having an updated definition list is very important.%dquot

Eva Chen, chief technology officer for Trend Micro, acknowledged that the program had to be modified to minimize download time and will not find all the viruses that the desktop version detects. HouseCall does not detect zoo viruses, which the NCSA says tend to be found only in labs.

You can dowload HouseCall Monday.