[ShawnReynolds]

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

Thanks,
Vallex

[21141141]

Answer is so simple-you must learn that programming language

[kasakari]

It would not be the recommended method though it is possible. TO write something like that you would need not only VB programming but you would also need to study viruses and other malware you are trying to ward off in order to correctly create the software.

[ShawnReynolds]

It would not be the recommended method though it is possible. TO write something like that you would need not only VB programming but you would also need to study viruses and other malware you are trying to ward off in order to correctly create the software.

Okay, thank you. Do you know of any books/ebooks that would have information on viruses and malware?

[katka18]

It would not be the recommended method though it is possible. TO write something like that you would need not only VB programming but you would also need to study viruses and other malware you are trying to ward off in order to correctly create the software.

Okay, thank you. Do you know of any books/ebooks that would have information on viruses and malware?

how viruses work
how viruses work 2

You can google many useful information. If you would read a book about it, probably you would get old info. Because every day there is a new kind of malware. And only internet can keep you updated
First you need to understand how it works. Then you can try to do something against it.

I am about to start collect information about it to my new blog.

I have a lot of experience with malware. Because I download software a lot and most of the time its a virus. And I am so lucky that for 80% its always something that my antivirus can not deal with. So I have to delete it manually.

Trust me, to make an antivirus its a very hard work..
But good luck with that!

[Isaac]

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.

[ShawnReynolds]

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).

[katka18]

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).

Well, you will gain useful experience Good luck
Do you know how long it will take you to make it ?

[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.

[Mikasa]

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++.