Whitelisting Program

 

Avast file whitelisting is a service provided mainly to software developers to reduce the risk of false positive detections.

When you join the Whitelisting Program and submit an application file, our Threat Labs analysts review the software for malicious or unwanted activity. Applications that are both free from malware and meet our guidelines for application transparency can be whitelisted. If determined clean, the submitted file is moved to our set of approved files to ensure it is no longer flagged as malicious.

Vendors who sign their applications with digital signatures can apply for whitelisting via their digital signature. Note that this type of whitelisting is provided to a limited number of digital signatures, and only if the software developer has a clean track record.

To accurately determine whether a program is well intended or not, we have created a set of guidelines that describes what we consider to be malicious and potentially unwanted behavior. For a detailed list of our recommendations, see Best Practices for Clean Software.

Joining the Whitelisting Program

To join our Whitelisting Program, fill out and submit the Avast Whitelisting Program Registration form. Please make sure you:

• Register using a company domain email address. Requests from public email domains (such as @gmail.com, @outlook.com, or @yahoo.com) will be ignored.
• Attach any file somehow connected with your company to be used for the authentication of the requestor. For example, you can attach an .exe file of a program (digitally signed is best) or a text file.

Once your application is approved, you will receive credentials for accessing the Avast FTP server, at which point you can upload your files for whitelisting.

Uploading Files to Avast FTP Server

Once you have received your credentials for accessing the Avast FTP server, follow the instructions in Uploading Files to Avast FTP Server to submit your files for whitelisting.

Submit only those files for which you have the authorization to request approval. Do not submit game hacks, cracks, keygens, or similar apps. Also, upload only complete files. Partially uploaded or broken files and delta-update files won't be considered for analysis or whitelisting.

Uploaded files are only visible to our Threat Labs analysts. Avast does not collect any personal information from files submitted for whitelisting. We reserve the right to share the uploaded samples with other security companies for research purposes, along with the information that the whitelisted samples are virus-free. We also reserve the right to refuse to whitelist any application and to erase any submitted file without notification.