What is https://aka.ms/. Why is this firewalled?

flagrant99 21 Reputation points
2022-01-03T22:27:35.55+00:00

Is
https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vs_enterprise.exe

safe?

I can't access anything from Microsoft anymore because https://aka.ms/ is blocked behind my company firewall.

What is https://aka.ms/?

Why did Microsoft start putting all MSDN downloads here?
VS 2022 is here. Why?

Azure Firewall
Azure Firewall
An Azure network security service that is used to protect Azure Virtual Network resources.
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Accepted answer
  1. Martin Cairney 2,256 Reputation points
    2022-01-03T22:51:56.913+00:00

    This is simply a link shortener URL.

    The aka.ms domain is owned by Microsoft as shown in the who.is entry. You could provide this information to your network security people and see if that is enough to allow the exclusion.

    4 people found this answer helpful.
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3 additional answers

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  1. Andreas Baumgarten 110.8K Reputation points MVP
    2022-01-03T22:52:53.22+00:00

    Hi @flagrant99 ,

    https://aka.ms/... is a hyperlink/URL shortener from Microsoft. Only Microsoft employees can create this short hyperlinks/URLs.
    In my opinion it could be considered as safe.

    ----------

    (If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

    Regards
    Andreas Baumgarten

    3 people found this answer helpful.

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