VirusTotal scanner that checks for trojans, backdoors, rootkit, viruses etc.

Dec 13, 2012 11:57 GMT  ·  By

BambooBits has released a free antivirus application for Mac users providing VirusTotal scanning for trojans, backdoors, rootkit, viruses, and other types of malware.

Released as a free solution for OS X Lion (and newer), Virus X-Ray is an intuitive application that allows you to drag suspicious files inside a small window and check them against the VirusTotal database.

If malware is found, the program will show a log such as the one displayed above.

The software detects both Mac and Windows malware. Unfortunately, it doesn’t provide any cleaning options, so you’re stuck with the malware until you actually delete it yourself.

Considering how some trojans work (installing various components in different parts of the operating system) Virus X-Ray does little to protect Mac users against this type of malware.

But at least it provides some sense of security that you shouldn’t use a certain file that ended up on your Mac, one way or another.

“This tool can check and send files to VirusTotal service and there scan files by ALL Antivirus Companies,” says BambooBits. “[The] app can also check for trojans, backdoors, rootkit, viruses by Hash (MD/SHA1/SHA256).”

Users can generate PDF reports and send the results by email. The tool should work fine on Snow Leopard too, but (update below) the developer can only guarantee compatibility with OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion.

One thing to note, the application uses four “slots” for individual scans, allowing you to scan and send reports for up to four files. When the slots are full, users are required to wait 60 seconds for each one to be refreshed before they can submit new scan requests.

Use the link below to download BambooBits’ Virus X-Ray for Mac OS X and use the comments to let us know how it works for you.

Update: tests on OS X 10.6 have confirmed that Virus X-Ray doesn't work on Snow Leopard.

Download Virus X-Ray for Mac (Free)