It has surprised me that, once a Spanish company (or rather a community) creates a good security app, it goes unnoticed among Spanish blogs and sites while they praise it outside. Well, VirusTotal deserves to be a prophet in its land. The app, just posted on Google Play, scans the other applications we have on our mobile to detect hidden viruses and other types of malware.
I will not tire of insisting on the importance of having a good antivirus on your Android mobile. Not even the price is an excuse, since there are some very good and free ones, like Avast or AVG. The risk is real, not just for the data you have on your mobile. The almost 100% synchronization that it has with your other devices, such as the tablet or the computer, can turn it into a true Trojan horse.
For VirusTotal is a second layer of security. It does not replace, nor does it pretend, to antivirus, but it completes them. Once installed, makes an analysis of all applications that you have on your mobile, from the system ones to those downloaded from Google Play, going through those of alternative origins.
Its interface is very simple and, therefore, very easy to use. Use a color code. It takes the hash (unique number that identifies each file) of each app and checks it against its database. VirusTotal servers have a large library of files analyzed and verified with more than 40 different antivirus programs. If everything is in order, next to the name of the app an Android appears in green.
If a question mark in blue, it means that there is no information about that app yet. VirusTotal then allows you to send the application to its servers so that the community that makes up VirusTotal, created by the veteran security consultancy Hispasec, but which works independently, can analyze its code. You must be registered in VirusTotal to be able to send apps.
The last option that may appear is that of a Android in red. It has not happened to me, but that indicates that the scanned app appears as dangerous in one of the VirusTotal databases or the antivirus it uses. If there is only one that labels the suspicious app in red, it may be due to an error in its virus engine, but if there are several, delete it as soon as possible.
VirusTotal can be downloaded from Google Play
Well, the app is no big deal. Check a database of suspicious applications that they have with those installed on your system. Obviously it is not a substitute for an antivirus.
But what I find embarrassing is that an application made in Spain by Spaniards comes out in English, when many applications made outside of Spain bother to include this language in their application.