McAfee GetSusp is a Portable Cloud Scanner to Detect Unknown Malware

Few days back I wrote about Rising Unknown Virus Detector, that claims to detect unknown malware based on its offline heuristic engine. But that tool is quite backdated and may not catch current complex malware. Today I will write about McAfee GetSusp which is an updated free tool to serve the same purpose, detect new malware using cloud. According to the developer,

McAfee GetSusp is intended for users who suspect undetected malware on their computer. GetSusp eliminates the need for deep technical knowledge of computer systems to isolate undetected malware. It does this by using a combination of heuristics and querying the McAfee Global Threat Intelligence (GTI) file reputation database to gather suspicious files.

Features & Specifications

Small executable (1.43 Mb), digitally signed by McAfee, Inc.
No installation required, completely portable.
Clean interface.
In preference settings you can manage your privacy and connection settings. It can submit samples or only a MD5 list of the files to McAfee Labs for analysis. The software can be used even if the user is behind proxy authentication.

You can submit one or more files manually to McAfee.

Scan can be performed both from GUI or from command line. You will be prompted to accept license agreement after starting scan. Command line parameters are the following.

It lists suspicious files in red and after scanning saves the log file in the same folder where the executable is present.

The log file is detailed and can even report the Network Statistics.
The software consumes low resources to perform the scan.

You can check for latest version within the software GUI.

My Verdict

Like other two McAfee tools, Stringer and Rootkit Remover, This tool is equally efficient but have different goal. Since this tool is based on Cloud, it is expected to have more detection and less false detection that other offline heuristic scanners. You can get step by step guide to use the software in the online resource page.

Like that mentioned by McAfee

GetSusp is recommended as a first tool of choice when analyzing a suspect computer. However, one must follow the existing McAfee support process for escalating suspicious files it finds.

So, this software will not assist you in removing any suspicious malware, rather will show you the results. You can join online community of GetSusp to get help in finding actual malware in the detected suspicious files list.

Download

Download the software from the following link. Current version is 3.0.0.262.

http://downloadcenter.mcafee.com/products/mcafee-avert/getsusp/getsusp.exe