rar and Exe blocked

For about the last month any rar or exe file I have tried to download have been blocked. Other users on mac forums are having this problem as well. I realize exe files are generally not needed for a Mac however these were exe files I was donwloading for someone who was running windows and had a rootkit installed on their machine. These were from extremely trustable sites (Mandiant, Sophos etc). I can also no longer download rar files. Rar is a valid extension, especially for a number of people who zip up their pictures using this format. Where is the ability to allow and deny filetypes as I see fit. I am running Symantec endpoint 11. PS- I have the ability to edit my vulnerability protection by issue if I know the one that is causing this. I just don't know specifically to unblock. None of the files triggered any alerts, but the extensions are obviously blocked by default