Setup.exe file listed as virus

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Setup.exe file listed as virus
 
Mark Wijnbergen




Posts: 27
 Joined: 2019-03-18
Hi,

We noticed that a setup.exe file used for our Outlook add-in is flagged by Google and by multiple virus scanners (via virustotal.com) as Malware. In contrast, the .MSI files are not flagged. We are certain that the setup.exe doesn't contain any viruses.

We create our installers using WIX via the Create Setup Project of Add In Express in Visual Studio. Could you please give use recommendations to solve this issue?

Thanks in advance
Posted 28 Feb, 2020 08:15:04 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 19138
 Joined: 2006-05-11
Hello Mark,

There's no guaranteed way.

Consider digitally signing the installer files using a certificate obtained via a certificate provider of your choice: google for "digital certificate providers".

We have a story of our own. Unlike any other Add-in Express build, Add-in Express 9.0 was built using Visual Studio 2013 (or 2015) and this raised a rain of reports: setup.exe that ClickTwice uses was flagged by an astounding number of antivirus products. We "fixed" this by turning back to using VS 2010 when building the product.

You can try to get setup.exe created by an older WiX version in VS 2010: in this case, you can use it using parameters that you can see by running setup.exe /?.


Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 28 Feb, 2020 09:52:33 Top
Mark Wijnbergen




Posts: 27
 Joined: 2019-03-18
Hi Andrei,

Thanks for your response. One more question, do you know whether changing the CA might affect odds of the setup.exe being flagged as malware?

Thanks in advance and best wishes,

Mark
Posted 02 Mar, 2020 04:49:26 Top
Andrei Smolin


Add-in Express team


Posts: 19138
 Joined: 2006-05-11
Hello Mark,

I don't know.


Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader
Posted 02 Mar, 2020 05:33:58 Top