MS Powerpoint: Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern error (and how it works with Trust Center)

Question

We have a number of PPT files that have hyperlinks in them that connect to PDF files on our dropbox which are replicated thru dropbox onto our users' hard drives. When the hyperlinks are run to show these PDFs, some users get this:

Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern.

Hyperlinks can be harmful ...

I thought if I just added that folder's parent (and its subfolders) to MS-Office's 'Trust Center', that would solve this problem, so this message doesn't pop up, but that doesn't seem to be working. I found this option to turn off ALL warnings, but that seems a bit too strong. https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/enable-or-disable-security-alerts-about-links-and-files-from-suspicious-websites-a1ac6ae9-5c4a-4eb3-b3f8-143336039bbe

Why does the Trust Center change not fixing this? Is there another way to fix this so it is comparably specific instead of the 'turn every warning off' option?

Answer 1

Based on the information you provided, it is possible that the folder you added to the Trust Center may not be a "trusted location" for Microsoft Office applications. Even if you added the parent folder and its subfolders to the Trust Center, there are certain directories that cannot ever be trusted, such as the temporary folders for the system, for each user, and for Internet Explorer.

Another possible reason for why the Trust Center change is not fixing this issue is because the issue may not be related to Trusted Locations. The error message "Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern" may indicate that there is a problem with the file that may pose a security risk. This issue could be due to a malicious file or a damaged file.

One way to work around this problem is to move the file to a trusted location. Any file that is moved to a trusted location can be opened without being checked by the Trust Center. However, it is important to note that files from the Internet and from other potentially unsafe locations may contain malicious content. To help protect your computer, Office applications open files from these potentially unsafe locations in Protected View.

If moving the file to a trusted location does not solve the problem, you may want to consider other options to fix the issue. One option is to add the specific URLs for the Dropbox files to the Trusted Sites list in Internet Explorer, which can help to reduce the level of security warnings in PowerPoint.

Another option is to use a digital signature to sign the VBA code in the PowerPoint presentation. Signing the VBA code indicates that the code is trustworthy and has not been tampered with. This can help to lower the security warning levels and prevent the "Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern" error message.

In summary, the Trust Center change may not be fixing this issue because the folder you added may not be a trusted location, or because the issue may not be related to Trusted Locations. Moving the file to a trusted location or adding the specific URLs to the Trusted Sites list may help to reduce the level of security warnings. Additionally, using a digital signature to sign the VBA code can help to lower the security warning levels and prevent the "Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern" error.

Answer 2

These settings might help :

• In PowerPoint, click the File menu

• Click Options

• Click Trust Center, and then click Trust Center Settings

• In Trusted Locations, add your Dropbox

• In Trusted Documents, check "Allow documents on a network to be trusted" and ensure that "Disable Trusted Documents" is unchecked

• In Protected View, uncheck "Enable Protected View for f‌iles located in potentially unsafe locations"

• Click OK.

If this helps, try to find out if some of the above settings are not really required and undo them, using only the strict minimum.

Close all Office programs after changing these setting and start PowerPoint again.

See also the advice in the Microsoft Support article
Enable or disable hyperlink warning messages in Office programs.

Answer 3

" However, it is important to note that files from the Internet and from other potentially unsafe locations may contain malicious content. To help protect your computer, Office applications open files from these potentially unsafe locations in Protected View."

Files from the internet (this includes files rec'vd over email) have what MS calls "The Mark of the Web" aka MOTW. Kinda like The Mark of Satan.

You can clear that flag. Rightclick the file, choose Properties, then on the general tab, choose to unblock the file.

"Signing the VBA code indicates that the code is trustworthy and has not been tampered with."

If and only if you trust the author. The digital signature proves who the author is and that the code hasn't been tampered with, but NOT that the code is trustworthy. But at least with signed code, you can check the signature to find out who did you dirty and send lawyers, guns and money in retribution.