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Why does the PIA application show as a virus? - Knowledgebase / Technical / Troubleshooting / AV Exceptions - PIA Support Portal

Why does the PIA application show as a virus?

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The Private Internet Access application sometimes throws up a false positive in antivirus software due to how it works. 

In order to ensure your privacy and safety, the PIA application creates temporary files and folders with randomized names and this behavior is sometimes seen with computer viruses. 

If you’d like to confirm you have our installer, you can also verify the SHA-256 checksums of the installer with those on our checksum page for latest client here. However, note that these will not match if you’ve downloaded the installer from that initial email since those installers also include your username to simplify installation. 

 

If you would like to add file exceptions to your antivirus software, please contact our support team who will be happy to assist you with instructions relevant to your operating system and software.