"Windows Explorer is attempting to access the internet"

antares

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My firewall displays the security alert as shown in the title of this thread. It refers to the process C:\Windows\explorer.exe . Why would Windows Explorer need to access the internet? Is it safe to set the firewall to allow explorer.exe access the internet? Thanks
 

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What is your Firewall/AV ? Windows Defender or another ?
 

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    Win 8.1 64bit
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It's Norton Internet Security 2014
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1x64 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    self made
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 6700K
    Motherboard
    Asus Z170-A
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 2400MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 530
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 23EA53 23" LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 32bit
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 256GB 830 Series SSD main+HGST 4TB 7200RPM as 2nd internal
    PSU
    Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 850W TPG-850M
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 650DW-1 Midtower
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D14
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Antivirus
    NIS2014
Not sure, you may want to go to the Norton Support Forums to see if others have this issue.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba
    CPU
    Intel i3, 2348
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD3000
It's not a Norton issue. Any firewall worth their salt will report that. As well svchost.exe and System (pid 4)

Explorer is a user level process so practically any other project can inject into it and pretend it's explorer accessing the internet.
BHO's do this natively, since Explorer loads them into itself automatically.

Open Process Explorer, highlight Explorer.exe and hit Ctrl+L to bring up the lower pane view. Look for anything that is listed as Process or Thread. Some can obfuscate their origin as mutants, semaphores or show up as sections if they use IPC through named pipes.
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro/Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
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    Self-assembled
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    Core i7-920 @ 3.4 GHz
    Memory
    12 GB DDR3
    Hard Drives
    SSD RAID 0
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    Razer Naga 2012
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps
    Antivirus
    virustotal.com
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