[ShawnReynolds]

It will probably take a long while, and I will probably stop after a while. I was planning on doing this basically to learn some more VB code/language.

Personally, if I were looking to learn more VB.NET, I'd make something else to learn.

If I was creating an anti-virus, I'd use C/C++.

Yeah, it would probably be easier to make it it C or C++, but sadly I have yet to attempt to learn those languages.

[ShawnReynolds]

Maybe I could make a Virus Total scanner in VB? Would it be possible to get the program to upload the file to Virus Total, and then display the results? I think a web browser object would work for displaying the results, but I need to figure out how to get it to upload the file and then get the browser object to display the results?

[Isaac]

Maybe I could make a Virus Total scanner in VB? Would it be possible to get the program to upload the file to Virus Total, and then display the results? I think a web browser object would work for displaying the results, but I need to figure out how to get it to upload the file and then get the browser object to display the results?

Many people have already made Virus Total scanners in VB. I'm not sure about this, but maybe Virus Total has an API that you could use for your application.

Do you know how long it will take you to make it ?

A project like this would take more than a year, if done properly.

[Deque]

I was wondering if it is possible to make a decent anti-virus program in Visual Basic, and if so, how?

Thanks,
Vallex

Anti-virus program is very unspecific. But to answer the general question: Yes, it is possible. Depending on your requirements it might just not be suitable. AV vendors usually use C/C++ as they need low-level capabilities to work closely with the operating system. A simple malware detector can be done in any language.

Maybe I could make a Virus Total scanner in VB? Would it be possible to get the program to upload the file to Virus Total, and then display the results? I think a web browser object would work for displaying the results, but I need to figure out how to get it to upload the file and then get the browser object to display the results?

See:
https://github.com/omegatechware/VirusTo...Scanner.vb

---

Do you know how long it will take you to make it ?

A project like this would take more than a year, if done properly.

You don't even know the scope of the project. Antivirus program is a broad term.

Using the Virustotal API as the OP mentioned is just a matter of a few hours, where most of it goes into the User Interface.

I did a statistic based heuristic malware detector within a week or several months, depending if you include the underlying library as well that I wrote, but wasn't done for the malware detector in the first place.

[Aut•ono•mous]

Absolutely possible if you're familiar with the language, but its not optimal. I'd use C, honestly.

[Isaac]

You don't even know the scope of the project. Antivirus program is a broad term.

Using the Virustotal API as the OP mentioned is just a matter of a few hours, where most of it goes into the User Interface.

I did a statistic based heuristic malware detector within a week or several months, depending if you include the underlying library as well that I wrote, but wasn't done for the malware detector in the first place.

Your comprehension skills need quite a lot of improvement. Maybe you should read all of the posts on this thread by order so that you can be able to understand the conversation, because you have clearly misunderstood the conversation at hand.

OP didn't mention anything about the VirusTotal API, I WAS THE ONE who mentioned it.

When I stated that "A project like this would take more than a year" I was clearly talking about OP's initial Idea of making an Anti Virus (He want's to make something like AVG and so forth) and not a program that simply uses VT's API to scan a file. Not to mention that if he's asking for someone to show him how to make one, chances are that OP doesn't have the skills to make one. He even said it himself in his posts that he doesn't know VB.net well enough and he wants to do this project in order to learn the language. So for a person like him, it would take more than a year to complete his project.

OP asked for a guide on how to make a typical AV that monitors your computer for any viruses. So his project's scope is quite clear enough.

Please read the entire thread (and posts) before commenting next time. You have clearly misunderstood this entire convo mate.

[Deque]

@XrpmX13 Thanks for your calm response.

About the scope in your last post:
Indeed I overlooked the post where the OP said it should be like MSE.

I read all posts and I did it again now. But I can't see that you where the first to mention Virustotal.

This is your conversation (emphasis added by me):

I was wondering if it is possible to make a decent anti-virus program in Visual Basic, and if so, how?

Thanks,
Vallex

It is possible. I saw an Open Source project on another forum for a .NET based Active Malware Detection tool. Keep in mind though that the developer of said project was a complete MASTER at programming in three different languages who had also attended University for his Masters degree in Software Engineering. Basically, he's no amature programmer who spends the majority of his time on Internet forums.

Making an AV is not easy mate. AVs rely on a Virus definition. These definitons have to be updated daily in order for the AV to detect new threats and viruses. You'll end up spending more time on updating you Virus definition rather than working on the actual AV. That's why Anti Viruses require large teams of professionals for them to function, teams that are hired by companies like AVG, Bitdefender and Avast.

I'm not discouraging you to give up your ambitions of making an AV, all I'm saying is that it's gonna take a lot of work and hell lot more time.

Where did you take the scope of the project and the kind of AV program at this point? OP didn't say anything about signature based detection.

Thank you all for the useful information. I will look into the links that @katka18 has given me. I don't really plan on making it anything big, just a small program to defend against small threats. Kind of like MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials).

Maybe I could make a Virus Total scanner in VB? Would it be possible to get the program to upload the file to Virus Total, and then display the results? I think a web browser object would work for displaying the results, but I need to figure out how to get it to upload the file and then get the browser object to display the results?

Or is it, because VallexKoten didn't say "API"? Then let me rephrase my words:

Using Virustotal as the OP mentioned is just a matter of a few hours, where a substantial amount of it goes into the User Interface.

It doesn't really make a difference, does it?
Even if one doesn't use the API, it is not that much additional work to implement the calls yourself. But I don't see a reason for not using the API.

[Sidatar]

You mean multi-av engine?
That's a bit hard to code but at least you must know the basic.

[Isaac]

@XrpmX13 Thanks for your calm response.

About the scope in your last post:
Indeed I overlooked the post where the OP said it should be like MSE.

I read all posts and I did it again now. But I can't see that you where the first to mention Virustotal.

This is your conversation (emphasis added by me):

I was wondering if it is possible to make a decent anti-virus program in Visual Basic, and if so, how?

Thanks,
Vallex

It is possible. I saw an Open Source project on another forum for a .NET based Active Malware Detection tool. Keep in mind though that the developer of said project was a complete MASTER at programming in three different languages who had also attended University for his Masters degree in Software Engineering. Basically, he's no amature programmer who spends the majority of his time on Internet forums.

Making an AV is not easy mate. AVs rely on a Virus definition. These definitons have to be updated daily in order for the AV to detect new threats and viruses. You'll end up spending more time on updating you Virus definition rather than working on the actual AV. That's why Anti Viruses require large teams of professionals for them to function, teams that are hired by companies like AVG, Bitdefender and Avast.

I'm not discouraging you to give up your ambitions of making an AV, all I'm saying is that it's gonna take a lot of work and hell lot more time.

Where did you take the scope of the project and the kind of AV program at this point? OP didn't say anything about signature based detection.

Thank you all for the useful information. I will look into the links that @katka18 has given me. I don't really plan on making it anything big, just a small program to defend against small threats. Kind of like MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials).

Maybe I could make a Virus Total scanner in VB? Would it be possible to get the program to upload the file to Virus Total, and then display the results? I think a web browser object would work for displaying the results, but I need to figure out how to get it to upload the file and then get the browser object to display the results?

Or is it, because VallexKoten didn't say "API"? Then let me rephrase my words:

Using Virustotal as the OP mentioned is just a matter of a few hours, where a substantial amount of it goes into the User Interface.

It doesn't really make a difference, does it?
Even if one doesn't use the API, it is not that much additional work to implement the calls yourself. But I don't see a reason for not using the API.

You really need to work on your reading skills. I'm saying that in the nicest way possible.

I can't see that you where the first to mention Virustotal.

Where did I say that I was the first to mention VirusTotal? I only said that I was the one who mentioned VirusTotal's API before OP did. There's a huge difference between my actual statment and your misinterpretation of it.

Where did you take the scope of the project and the kind of AV program at this point? OP didn't say anything about signature based detection.

Now I've emphasised the fact that OP is new to this field in my previous posts. It only takes common sense to understand that since OP is new, he obviously has no idea about how broad the term Anti-Virus is. He therefore wants to make a typical AV that he has seen before, like Microsoft Secuirty Essentials. MSE uses a SIGNATURE BASED DETECTION just like many other popular AVs. It doesn't take a genius to realize that right?

Maybe I could make a Virus Total scanner in VB? Would it be possible to get the program to upload the file to Virus Total, and then display the results? I think a web browser object would work for displaying the results, but I need to figure out how to get it to upload the file and then get the browser object to display the results?

OP was talking about a Webbrowser object to navigate to VTs home page, upload the file and display the results on the application's form. Where did he say anything about an API? Where did he even mention anything similar to an API?

Using Virustotal as the OP mentioned is just a matter of a few hours, where a substantial amount of it goes into the User Interface.

What the hell does that even have to do with the discussion at hand? This is completely irrelevant to this post. I already told you in my previous post that I NEVER SAID THAT MAKING A VT SCANNER WOULD TAKE MORE THAN A YEAR I only said that making an actual AV would take more than a year.

[hellomen]

What you need for a really basic virus scanner:
1) Knowledge how virusses act/work
2) Knowledge about how to receive application hashes and possibly source codes
3) Knowledge about (1-2 programming language[s])
4) Knowledge about databases
5) Have a database which saves known application hashes which possibly contains a virus, and ofcourse if yours found a malicious code add the hash to your database
6) Knowledge about scrolling through the files on a computer system.
7) Let the application scroll through the files
8) Let the application generate multiple hashes of the files
9) Check the files with the virus hashes database
10) if the hashes matches the virus a message should be shown with possible killing