Thousands of software developers and publishers every day come up with hundreds of software and applications users can download and install. But how do users know that these applications are from an authentic source and not from someone in the guise of pretending to be you?
The only way for your users to know that the software is coming from a genuine source is by signing your application code with a digital certificate. Such digital certificates for software security have become a necessity for tech development companies.
These digital security certificates offer several benefits along with surety that the software is free from any malicious actor or vulnerability that can compromise users’ devices. But what does the code signing mean?
What is Code Signing?
Code signing is the software signing certificate that signs your software and other executable files to confirm the publisher’s identity while attaching unique digital signature. It’s used for signing and verifying the authenticity of the program to warrant that the code is not altered or modified.
For signing a code, software publishers need to generate a private-public key pair and submit the same to Certificate Authority. Once you request the code signing certificate, the CA will carry out its validation to authenticate the code signing certificate request.
Code Signing Certificate is simply a seal of guarantee that the software is safe for download, installation, and usage. Trusted Certificate Authorities (CA) like Sectigo or Comodo validate and confirm the identity of publishers and bind the software with the public key to the code signing certificate.
Once the CA issues the certificate, the software publishers can sign the code and add important code signing information to the original executable file. However, the certificate is only issued after the publisher follows all the standards, code signing specifications, and the latest cryptographic requirements.
Code Signing Process
The entire process of signing the code digitally is as follows:
- The code of your software application is passed through the hashing algorithm to create a fixed-length digest.
- This cryptographic hash is a unique representation of your software code file
- It can be reproduced by using the unaltered file and hashing the algorithm
- Using the private key of the publisher, the hash is passed through a signing algorithm
- Now the public key is required to authenticate the code when verifying
- The code signing certificate is then issued and added to the bundle
Once the process is complete, the software code becomes ready for distribution.
What are the Different Types of Digital Certificates for Software Security?
Primarily, there are two different versions of the Code Signing Certificate:
Standard/Organization and Extended Validation type. Moreover, there are different certificates for both desktop and mobile software:
Desktop Certificates:
- Microsoft Code Signing Certificate
- Java Code Signing Certificate
- Adobe Code Signing Certificate
- Visual Studio Code Signing Certificate
Mobile Certificates:
- Java Code Signing Certificate
- Android Code Signing Certificate
Where is Code Signing Certificate Used?
Code signing certificate can be used for securing any software and on any number of software to give users surety about the source of the same. Here are some examples where usage of a code signing certificate is often seen:
- Window applications
- Software updates and patches
- Apple software
- Microsoft office objects and macros
- Java software
- .jar files
- All other types of executables
How Long is the Digital Certificate Valid?
Another question that most publishers have while obtaining the code signing certificate is how long the digital signature remain valid for their software. The exact certificate validation time can vary depending on the certificate issuer, but typically they are valid for one to two years.
The reasons for such a short validity are:
- Enhanced Security: It’s common news that digital certificates and their private keys get compromised often. But by renewing the code signing certificate every year or two, the previous certificates stand invalid and save you from any security flaw.
- Technology Revolution: Technology changes fast and some even become extinct faster. Thus, the technology standard used for security 2-5 years ago isn’t secure anymore. Due to that, the code signing certificates need renewal frequently to ensure the certificate has up-to-date standards.
Advantages of Code Signing
Among others, here are some benefits of code signing
- Code signing is a way to integrate a digital security signature into your software, application, or executable files to verify their authenticity and integrity upon installation and execution.
- It uses a hash function to check the integrity of the software code.
- The certificate includes verification using a timestamp, which ensures the validity of the certificate.
- It informs users whether the provider of the file or content is a verified or an unknown publisher.
- It eliminates the risk of program corruption and tampering.
- Boosts confidence and instills trust in users to download, install, and use your software program.
- Offers seamless integration across several platforms.
Self-Signed Certificate vs Certificate from Trusted CA
Due to the costs of acquiring code signing certificates from trusted CA, many software publishers choose to self-sign their executables. However, there are differences between self-signed certificates vs the certificate from Trusted CA.
In self-signed certificates, issuers provide their own identity, which can’t be authenticated or verified. Also, during the installation, the operating system will alert users that the certificate is from an unknown publisher. And lastly, if the certificate is compromised, there’s no way to revoke it, and may harm users’ devices.
In the case where you obtain a certificate from a trusted CA, everything is taken care of. The CA will perform the identity verification and display a message that the software is from a verified publisher. It’ll show the publisher’s name and offer to revoke the certificate if it’s compromised.
Wrapping Up
Code Signing Certificate has become the need of the hour for software publishers to provide their users the assurance of the file’s origin. Thus, development companies need to obtain the same from a trusted CA or distributor.
In this guide, we have explained why it’s necessary to acquire your Code Signing Certificate from a trusted CA and not self-sign it. We have also explained different types of digital certificates for software security, where they can be used, what their advantages are, and many other things.
Hope this helps you make a better decision to safeguard your software applications!
