Which of the following should be used to test antivirus software?

The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research (EICAR) test file is the industry standard for testing the functionality of antivirus software. It is a harmless, non-viral text file containing a specific string of 68 characters. This file is designed to be detected by antivirus programs as if it were a real virus. This allows administrators and users to safely verify that their antivirus scanner is configured and working correctly without using actual, malicious code, which would pose a significant security risk.

A. FIPS 140-2 is a U.S. government standard that specifies security requirements for cryptographic modules, not a tool for testing antivirus software.
B. Code Red was a specific, real computer worm from 2001. Using actual malware for testing is highly dangerous and not a standard procedure.
C. Heartbleed was a critical security vulnerability in the OpenSSL cryptographic library, not a virus or a file used to test antivirus detection capabilities.

1. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Special Publication 800-83 Revision 1, Guide to Malware Incident Prevention and Handling for Desktops and Laptops, July 2013. Section 3.3.1, "Configure and Maintain Anti-Malware Software," states, "Organizations should also verify that the software is working correctly... This can be done safely by using a test file, such as the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research (EICAR) test file."

2. EICAR (European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research), "The EICAR Test File." The official website explains, "The EICAR test file is a legitimate DOS program, and completely harmless... It was developed by the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research (EICAR) to test the response of computer antivirus programs."

3. Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint documentation, "Run a detection test on a newly onboarded Microsoft Defender for Endpoint device." The official documentation instructs administrators to use the EICAR test file to verify that devices are properly onboarded and reporting to the service.

4. Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, CERT Coordination Center, "Common Sense Guide to Mitigating Insider Threats, 5th Edition", December 2016. Practice 17, "Deploy solutions for detecting and preventing malicious code," discusses the importance of testing security controls, for which the EICAR file is a standard method. (p. 118).