Firewall Problems with XLS Padlock

XLS Padlock
1

Hello,

I am receiving notifications from my end-users that the .exe created by XLS Padlock triggers their firewalls. This has been an issue with almost all of my end-users, not just ones with picky firewalls. Is there any way around this? Could I create my .exe differently so that it won’t be blocked by firewalls? Its even being blocked by the basic background Windows 10 firewall.

Thanks.

2

The .EXE files made with XLS Padlock don’t phone home nor have the functionality to contact a remote server. However, it’s possible that Windows itself tries to reach a server to verify the signature of the EXE, or an antivirus program will try to contact its server for checking whether the EXE is not a virus for instance. The problem is that some antivirus programs use Windows hook APIs directly injected into the EXE process: this leads firewalls to show the EXE name in their alarm message, while the responsible is the antivirus program. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to prevent this: this is by default allowed by Windows.

3

Thanks for the response. Is there a way I can get my .exe verified or accredited in any way? How do .exe creators normally work around this? Do firewalls just start recognizing and trusting them after a certain number of users begin to use them? For instance, when I downloaded the XLS software, my firewall did not trigger a message (and it does when I download my .exe created from XLS).

4

Also, could it be related to how I’m sharing the file? I’m linking it from dropbox to a link on my website.

Thanks

5

Another problem could be the fact that Excel tries to contact Microsoft websites: it’s the case with Office 365 versions. Since Excel is launched by the EXE file, some firewalls can believe that the EXE tried to connect while it’s Excel.
Did you also try to code sign your EXE file?