The answer to your question is that what marks it as a virus is the way it is compressed, meaning your initial guess was correct. Although I am not aware of any viable alternatives, there is actually a way to forget switching to a different compile tool, remove the error, and get your software whitelisted.

If you visit this link (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/filesubmission), you can get your software whitelisted by Microsoft. All you need to do is fill out a form and wait for a response. It's a pretty lengthy process overall, but it may be worth it.

Hope this helped.