Definition: What is a false negative?
What is a false positive?
What is a virus signature?
Top online virus scanners
A false negative is the polar opposite of a false positive. A false negative occurs when a virus scanner fails to detect a virus in an infected file. The antivirus scanner may fail to detect the virus because the virus is new and no signature is yet available, or it may fail to detect because of configuration settings or even faulty signatures.
If your antivirus scanner says a file is clean that you believe is actually infected, use an online virus scanner to get a second opinion.
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