I'm developing C++ program. I generate a certificate from our PKI Solution configured in our company(Microsoft). I sign my .exe using the certificate(generated). But when I make my file on the server (internet) and download it, I have the problem of displaying SmartScreen.What should I do to make my .exe works well in all computer of our company? Should I buy a certificate to sign my code? Sign my code with root certificate?
I think problem is your application has downloaded a few users and the reputation is unknown to Microsoft
P.S. And you can distribute your program in Microsoft Store
Related
This is my first time trying to deploy a VSTO add-in to a user's system, and I am running into a security barrier. The add-in was built in Visual Studio 2019 Community Edition and is meant to integrate with Microsoft Excel. The user runs Office 365.
On running Setup.exe, user receives the initial confirmation prompt and clicks "Install." A progress bar briefly appears and runs about 25% of the way, then an error message pops up: "Customized functionality in this application will not work because the certificate used to sign the deployment manifest for [the add-in] or its location is not trusted."
I understand that Microsoft would like me to pay for a signing certificate, but I am hoping to get this to work while avoiding that expense.
This article from Microsoft describes the use of a digital certificate as "an optional step": ClickOnce and Authenticode. This article states that an alternative route is for the user to click the "ClickOnce trust prompt" during installation: Grant trust to Office solutions. But as far as I understand the process, it is halted before it even gets to the ClickOnce trust prompt, so the user never gets that option.
For comparison, the user ran the installation on an older system. On that system he received the ClickOnce prompt, approved the software, and the installation ran successfully to the end. This indicates very strongly that the problem on the newer system is a security setting.
I instructed the user to open Excel and go to Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Add-Ins and remove the check mark from "Require Application Add-Ins to be signed by Trusted Publisher." There was no check mark to begin with, so that setting was not the issue.
I have instructed the user to go to the command prompt and clean out any remnants of the failed install with rundll32 dfshim CleanOnlineAppCache before each new installation attempt.
I'm at a loss as to where to look next. Any help would be much appreciated.
One relatively easy workaround: you pack the "publish" folder as ZIP file, disable any online checks or deployments (in the project settings, select to publish locally, not to a website. Installing from a website or auto-update won't work without normal certificate). Then give your user that ZIP. User downloads that ZIP, then right-click the ZIP file and checks "Unblock". Then unzips and installs normally. Now any certificate should do. This applies if your user downloads your file from the internet.
So the idea is very simple: Just tell your user to click "Unblock" checkbox before extracting files from the ZIP archive you have sent and running them.
Another solution, you simply tell the user's system to trust your "self-signed" developer's certificate (add your certificate to "Trusted Publishers" store on the user computer). For that you need admin rights. Please note that user's admins probably won't like this idea, unless you and your user work in the same organization. Here are the instructions: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/skype-sdk/sdn/articles/installing-the-trusted-root-certificate
The best and easiest of course would be if you buy a normal code signing certificate. They are not that expensive, you can get one from COMODO (SectiGo) for example for something like $70/year though their resellers.
On the target machine. you need to install and trust the certificate used to sign your addin (see Signing tab of your project options)
What is required for the certification process, is it a quick process? Are they certifying me/ my business or the code??
It is a quick process for the process:
Sign with valid certificate when publishing.
Add the publisher into Trusted Publisher before installing when Macro Settings is a high security level.
Finish installing.
You can obtain a certificate for code signing in one of three ways:
Purchase one from a certificate vendor.
Receive one from a group in your organization responsible for creating digital certificates.
Generate your own certificate with MakeCert.exe, which is included with the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK).
I am using Visual Studio 2015, just created a new MVC / Web Api project to experiment using https. The sites I am currently using as a walkthrough (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/web-sites-dotnet-deploy-aspnet-mvc-app-membership-oauth-sql-database/) and (http://www.asp.net/mvc/overview/security/create-an-aspnet-mvc-5-app-with-facebook-and-google-oauth2-and-openid-sign-on) seem pretty straight forward.
I have accepted the self signed certificate VS 2015 IIS Express creates however I am getting Warnings in Chrome that it uses a deprecated signature algorithm based on SHA-1. Other research suggests that chrome is phasing out support for SHA-1 certificates.
What do I need to do inside Visual Studio to upgrade the signature algorithm creating the Self Signed SSL Certs from SHA-1 to SHA-256 for any new certificates that get created in the future?
there is a link here but i couln't do it myself. maybe it will work for you
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/br230260.aspx
In Solution Explorer, open the shortcut menu for the .appxmanifest
file, choose Open With, and then choose App Manifest Designer.
In the App Manifest Designer, choose the Packaging tab, and then choose
the Choose Certificate button.
In the Choose Certificate dialog box, expand the Configure Certificate list, and then choose one of the following options:
Pick from certificate store
Pick one of your Personal certificates from the certificate store in the operating system.
Select from file
Pick an existing certificate file from the file system.
Create test certificate
Create a certificate with a Publisher ID of your choice. You can also create a password.
UPDATED (26.07.2018): Actually there is Let's Encrypt certificates you could use for free.
There one cmd option: win-acme
and there is another with gui: certifytheweb
I changed the info.plist file in Boot Camp package to make it support making USB installing drives on my Mac, but on Mac OS X Mavericks the app crashed before I signed the new file. I use the following code in terminal to sign it.
sudo codesign -fs - /Applications/Utilities/Boot\ Camp\ Assistant.app
After signing the code, the app ran successfully. The whole tutorial is here: Enable Bootcamp to install from usb for OSX 10.9
BUT I am wondering why I can sign the code so easily, without any formal certificate. I think code signature is a security feature. Only developers with certificates can sign their codes and distribute them, and Apple only allow these signed programs to run: About Code Signing I am a beginner on this topic; can someone explain the process a little bit? Does this means that hackers can sign whatever codes they want (maybe malicious ones) and run them AS LONG AS they get the password for root account?
Then I changed back to the original info.plist and wanted to remove the signature for the file that I created. How do I do this?
Thanks!
The reason is because you are signing the package with a local certificate. When Apple sign the package, it will run on any Mac, as their root certificate is trusted in the base OS.
If you transferred your locally signed package to another mac, you would find that it crashes, because it was signed with a certificate from another machine.
Hope this clears it up.
I was recently given a VB.NET project for fixing some bugs and creating an installer for it. I was told to use Install Shield LE.
All went well with creating the install script but Windows 8 is giving me a smart screen warning when downloading the application from a web site and trying to install it.
I am aware of Windows 8 policy where popular applications get more "trust points" and become popular but the application is targeted for a fairly small audience of people therefore we can not rely on this option. Even more, people without proper knowledge would be repelled by the warning message and that could cause MS to never raise the trust for the application.
My question is, do I have to sign both - the application and the installer with a certificate? If so how do I sign the installer, as there is a signing tab for the project but I can't find one for the installer.
Bonus points if anyone can tell me if acquiring a proper certificate will remove the warning message telling this isn't a commonly downloaded file and might be dangerous from chrome/IE when downloading the application. There are many threads about this, I know, but most of them suggest adding the site to webmaster tools but that hasn't helped and we're still receiving the message
Thanks.
If I have read your post correctly then you are talking about an application as opposed to a website, and for that you would need a code signing certificate. Certificates that sign websites are different so first and foremost decide what it is that you are producing and want to sign.
Having decided that then you need to decide who you will use to supply your certificate. Typical sources would be VeriSign, Thwaite or Globalsign to name but three. All charge different prices but essentially do the same thing.
Once you have the certificate then the installer that you use to build your application signs the code files you select and the actual installer (msi or exe) itself.
That should eliminate the message that you now see warning people about potentially dangerous files that they are about to download.
I cannot stress enough however that you need to be clear about which type of certificate you need BEFORE you go ahead and buy one. I think from your description you are talking about a code signing certificate but do check first.
Following CAB forum regulation you will need to have an Extended Validation code signing in order to bypass the smart screen filter.
Extended Validation code signing will establish immediate trust with the machine, as you go through a more stringent validation process to obtain it! (or at least that's the rationale behind it!)
I think you can get an extended validation code signing either from SYmantec or GLobalsign.
I want to develop an app using Adobe AIR. But I have to sign it using a code signing certificate. I don't wan to buy a code signing certificate. Would it be OK if I distribute my app with a self-signed certificate?
The only difference between using a real certificate and a self-signed certificate is what the user sees in the initial installation dialog. With a real certificated they'll see a yellow "!" and the app will shown to be of "KNOWN" origin, and your company name will be shown. With a self-signed cert, there will be a red "?", and it will say the app's publisher is "UNKNOWN". You can see samples of the two dialogs at the very bottom of this page.
So realistically, it comes down to whether you're okay with people seeing a scary warning at install time. If you're only offering up the apps as a "use at your own risk" thing, or the app will be used mainly by a small group of people who already know who you are (an internal company app, e.g.) that may not be an issue, but if you hope for random internet people to come use your app and trust it, a cert may be a good idea.
That depends on your definition of "OK", but most likely no.
A self-signed certificate will not have been issued by a trusted CA, and your certificate will be considered untrusted by the client. I don't think (but have not tested) that the user is actively prevented from installing an app with an untrusted certificate, but they would at least get a warning, and that doesn't give your user a good first impression of your app.
If it's just for yourself or for a small group of people who know and trust you, then a self-signed certificate is most likely not a problem, but if you're distributing it to the world, you will almost certainly prefer a proper certificate.
I have recently looked into developing an Air App for the company to distribute to customers. On OSX Mavericks - on my mac and my designer's mac a red warning signs pops up stating that we are an unknown publisher - This was using the self signed certificate. The whole process was clunky with the installation, I had to verify that we were legitimate, as this warning sign inferred we were a looking to distribute something underhand.
From a marketing perspective this looked terrible.
In addition to this I managed to find someone to test the whole process of downloading the air app with a self signed cert on windows with an 'average' amount IT skills and this is what they said:
"Nah I didn't download it... it looked like it wanted to put a virus on my computer." And that is where download ended.
Currently we are looking to get some seal of trust on the application for distribution purposes.
Verisign, Thawte look interesting, although costly.
http://www.symantec.com/code-signing/adobe-air
https://www.thawte.com/code-signing/
Or read this page for more information
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/air/build/WS5b3ccc516d4fbf351e63e3d118666ade46-7ff0.html