How to Scan a Website using VirusTotal.com
If you are suspicious of a link that is emailed to you, follow these steps before clicking on it.
Remember: If you come up with a site that is not safe to view, please do not view it. If you received the link from someone you know, you may want to tell them that they sent a link to a website infected with malware by starting a new e-mail and notifying them that way. If you have any questions about this, please contact the IT Department. Do NOT forward the email with the unsafe link to anyone.
1. Find the link to the website, highlight it with your mouse, right-click it and select Copy. Make sure you only highlight the link, do NOT click it.
2. Open your Internet browser and go to www.virustotal.com.
3. Click on the link in the middle of the page that says URL.
4. Go to the line that says Enter URL. Right-click and select Paste (If you know the website, you can just type it in as well). Once the site is pasted in, press Enter on your keyboard or click the Magnifying Glass on the right hand side of the search bar.
5. In a few seconds you’ll get the results of the scan. The site will give it a score out of all the malware that it scans for, in this case, the score was 0. The green circle around the score and the notification that No security vendors flagged this URL as malicious means that this website is safe to view. If the circle is an orange/yellow, that means that some malware has been found and that you should open the link at your own risk. A red circle means it has many malware on it and you should NOT open it.
****IMPORTANT****
If you come up with a site that is not safe to view, please do not view it. If you received the link from someone you know, you may want to tell them that they sent a link to a website infected with malware by starting a new e-mail and notifying them that way. If you have any questions about this, please contact the IT Department. Do NOT forward the email with the unsafe link to anyone.