Hi all I am using VirusTotal for years, and lately I noticed the "Community" tab. There is something that I don't understand regarading it. Virus total results removed as per forum policy https://www.wilderssecurity.com/thr...otti-virus-total-results.180057/#post-1040840 If anyone can explain this, and whether this should be taken to consideration when examining a file, it would really help. Thank you
OK, since the screenshots were deleted by forum moderators, then I cannot put the sscreenshots anymore, so I will ask the question without them. I uploaded a specific PDF file, and the result for this file is 0/59. Meaning, according to all AVs, it's clean. However, the "Community Score" cursor for that file is red, so I clicked the "Community tab", scrolled down, and there I can see various users (all Anonymous), give the file +1 or -1, and one user gave -11. So my question: Should we really take to consideration the Votings, especially when they're by anonymous users? I also wonder how can one user give a voting of (minus) elevent points, where other users can only give 1 point (plus or minus)? If anyone can explain this, and whether this should be taken to consideration when examining a file, it would really help. Thank you
The difference in score is due to certain users having a higher ranking somehow. You, me and Joe Shmo will only be able to effect a + or - 1 per vote, but as we learn in Animal Farm "Some people are more equal than others". Personally I ignore all votes that do not include any comment or reference, no matter how high ranking they are. You can assume they are politicised votes, not genuine. When I cast my vote on a file, I always write a comment so others know why and can agree/disagree with me based on facts. Check the section for the file relations and see if it contacts anywhere or drops any files. ~ Off Topic Remarks Removed ~
VirusTotal makes use of the green circle with a white tick mark to indicate that the given file was not detected in any way by the antivirus under consideration. We do not use the word "clean" or "innocuous" because antivirus solutions do not tell you whether a file is goodware, they just flag maliciousness.
This sounds logic, you're right. Anyone who just feels like clicking +1 or -1, without bothering writing a word, is not really giving any info, and could be even a random program that does it. Where is this section? ~Off topic comments removed. See the TOS.~
