Google releases VirusTotal Uploader for OS X to help keep your Mac secure

May 28, 2014

Google has released VirusTotal Uploader for OS X, an app that will let you upload suspicious apps and files to VirusTotal so they can be scanned by the service to identify malware. VirusTotal, purchased by Google in September 2012, has produced apps for Windows and Android, but this is the first VirusTotal product to be released on an Apple platform.

Google hopes that users will upload more applications from Mac, which will expand the VirusTotal database, giving antivirus developers more to work with, according to the VirusTotal blog:

Hopefully this will lead to VirusTotal receiving more Mac applications, diving deeper into an increasingly targeted OS by attackers and allowing antivirus companies and researchers making use of VirusTotal's backend to build stronger defenses against these threats.

VirusTotal Uploader for Mac lets users drag and drop files, folders, and applications into the app to be scanned. You can also use "Open With" in the Finder to open a file or app in VirusTotal Uploader and immediately begin scanning it. The app will display the name, scan date, and number of malware detections made for the particular file or app.

VirusTotal Uploader is a free tool that you can download from their website right now, and requires OS X 10.7 or higher. Will you be using VirusTotal to secure your Mac? Sound off in the comments below.