VirusTotal improves antivirus tool for detecting Mac and iOS malware

VirusTotal recently added a new tool to better detect suspicious Mac files and iOS apps. The tool mainly tries to find out unique properties of a file in order to facilitate analysis.

In the case of Mac files, VirusTotal now collects file header information, which contains specific information, among other things. In addition, the program now looks at file segments, shared libraries, load commands and any digital signatures.

With iOS apps, the antivirus program not only looks at the functionality of the apps, but also at metadata that it generates itself. This concerns data relating to the software package itself. In addition, VirusTotal now includes iTunes details in the scanning process, the company writes in a blog post.

With the update, which was quietly rolled out two weeks ago, VirusTotal hopes to better detect threats to Mac and iOS devices. Incidentally, the company has been focusing on Mac viruses in particular for some time; earlier this year, it released an uploader that allows OS X users to upload suspicious files to the company’s server for a scan.

VirusTotal is a subsidiary of Google, which the internet giant acquired two years ago for an undisclosed amount. The subsidiary focuses on developing anti-malware tools for use on the Internet, using more than fifty anti-malware engines.