Security is a very important factor whenever we use any device connected to the network. There are many threats that in one way or another could endanger our personal information and compromise privacy. Therefore, it is convenient to take into account some tips and avoid risks when navigating. In this article we are going to talk about what to do if the message that this EXE file is dangerous appears . It is something that can appear in Chrome.
Many security problems come from the browser
Hackers can use a wide variety of methods to attack our computers and compromise security . They can use Phishing attacks, malware that sneaks into devices, vulnerabilities in the systems and programs we use …
But if there is something that can lead to many security problems, it is the browser . It is a tool widely used in our day to day to search for information on the web, browse web pages, access multiple services … This means that we must be careful at all times what application we use and what problems may appear.
Simply visiting an insecure page can lead to problems. Also when downloading a possible malicious file that puts its proper functioning at risk. For this reason, with the passage of time, browsers have improved in security and launch alert messages whenever they detect that something is wrong.
However, sometimes that alert message is actually a false positive. It really is a trustworthy file that we are trying to download from a website we trust. This could be a problem as the download would be blocked. This is what happens with the message that an EXE file is dangerous. It usually appears in Google Chrome, which is the most popular browser.
How to avoid the message alerting of a dangerous EXE file in Chrome
Google’s browser has improved a lot in recent years in terms of stability, performance, and also security. It offers a wide range of options to users. However, sometimes there can also be errors, a malfunction or even false positives in terms of security. If we find an alert message indicating that the EXE file that we are downloading is dangerous and we really know that it is reliable, we can carry out some steps and avoid it.
Disable security extensions
One of the causes of Chrome blocking the download of an EXE file that we know is safe is having a security extension installed. There are many add-ons available for the main browsers and of course there are also them to improve protection. They can be very useful and an important complement to the antivirus and firewall that we have.
However, sometimes these extensions can cause conflicts and even give false positives. We are not only talking about EXE files in Chrome, but also about others that can hinder the proper functioning.
Therefore, something basic that we can do in case of having security extensions in the browser is to simply stop them. We can do this during the time it takes to download that file from that website that we trust and that is blocking us.
Turn off Chrome Safe Mode
It can certainly also be due to Chrome’s safe mode . It is one of the security measures that they have incorporated in recent years. Very interesting to avoid problems and that our data is always safe. However, as in many cases, it could also give a false positive.
If we run into the problem that Google Chrome blocks an EXE file that we know is safe, we can try turning off the browser’s safe mode at least momentarily.
To do this we have to go to the menu at the top right (the three points), we enter Settings, Privacy and security and, once here, we access the Security section. There we will have to check the Unprotected box, which is the one that appears at the bottom.
It must be borne in mind that by doing this we will not be protected against possible malicious downloads, dangerous pages that we access, etc. It is something that we must take into account only to solve a specific error when trying to download an EXE file that we know is totally reliable.
Pause the antivirus we use
A third option related to the security programs that we have installed to protect ourselves on the network is to momentarily pause the antivirus . We must emphasize the importance of always having good tools that help detect any type of malicious software that may reach our computer, any unwanted access attempt or problem that may arise.
But we must also go back to what we mentioned before: there may be false positives . We may be browsing a web page that we trust, in which we know there is no malware, and see that when we try to download a file, we get the alarm saying that it is dangerous and block it.
Therefore, we simply have to pause the antivirus for a moment and download that EXE file. Once we have been able to download it with Chrome, we can re-activate the antivirus as normal so that it protects us in the future when surfing the net.
Use another browser
One more alternative is to use a different browser. There are many options that we have available. Sometimes we can have problems when trying to open a web page, download a file as in this case or even have errors with extensions. Luckily we have different alternatives that can come in handy.
The range of possibilities is wide, but we must use a reliable and working browser. However, for situations like this in which a specific failure appears, a second option may come in handy.
Ultimately, following these steps we can solve the problem when Chrome blocks an EXE file that we try to download. It is something that can appear on certain occasions. Of course, as we have indicated, it is essential that we know for sure that the web page from where we are going to download the file is totally reliable. Otherwise we could be downloading malware.
