5 ms·

>If MS was serious about this only being for security they could issue the certificates for free and prove me wrong. Make it too easy, and the scamware softwar

>If MS was serious about this only being for security they could issue the certificates for free and prove me wrong. Make it too easy, and the scamware software will just get a free cert and sign apps. It takes some amount of effort, possibly by a human, to approve you to receive a cert. Even the "free" certs I've applied for have taken time and human interaction on the side of the registrar, and I'm certain those certs are offered as loss-leaders for their other products.

hobin 14y ago
I'm unfamiliar with many of these certificates, but is there any reason such 'scamware' woudln't be able to get one even though it costs money? Because, if they still can, they the whole certification business definitely seems like a big scam to me.
- dennisgorelik 14y ago
  When you pay money - you are leaving money trace which is likely to bite you if your product hurts people.
  - yuhong 14y ago
    Yea, the SmartScreen filter is based on the reputation of the publisher, and the certificate is used to identify the publisher for this purpose.
- lesterbuck 14y ago
  The certificate authority should revoke their signing certificate if their binary is found to contain malware, returning them to the big warning state.
Turing_Machine 14y ago
Apple gives out free developer id certificates. There's no reason Microsoft couldn't do the same.
- X-Istence 14y ago
  Where does Apple give out free developer id certificates? Last I saw I had to purchase the $99 developer program ... https://developer.apple.com/resources/developer-id/ https://developer.apple.com/resources/developer-id/
  - DeepDuh 14y ago
    "Buy this cd boxset and you will get this wonderful christmas album FOR FREE!"
  - Turing_Machine 14y ago
    Okay, "free" was poor phrasing. I should have said "no extra charge". Compare this to the situation described in the original article, where the developer had to buy a separate $59 certificate from a third party, on top of what Microsoft charges you for Visual Studio (which looks to be $499 for the cheapest non-evaluation version).
    - ryanbrunner 14y ago
      Express isn't an evaluation version. Also, it's trivially easy to get setup with BizSpark if you're a small startup and get free copies of Visual Studio.
      - Turing_Machine 14y ago
        http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/05/no-cost-desktop-software-development-is-dead-on-windows-8/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/05/no-cos... No mobile apps, no conventional desktop apps, no command line apps... looks pretty "evaluaty" to me. Also: "private developers will have to pay $49 a year, corporations $99 a year." So, on the one hand we have (from Apple): Xcode (free or $5.00, depending on what kind of mood Apple is in that week) Developer program with store access: $99/year Code-sigining certificate: included. From Microsoft we have: Non-crippled Visual Studio: $499 Developer program with store access: $49-$99/year Code-signing certificates: must be purchased separately from a third party. What a bargain!

hobin 14y ago

I'm unfamiliar with many of these certificates, but is there any reason such 'scamware' woudln't be able to get one even though it costs money? Because, if they still can, they the whole certification business definitely seems like a big scam to me.

dennisgorelik 14y ago
When you pay money - you are leaving money trace which is likely to bite you if your product hurts people.
- yuhong 14y ago
  Yea, the SmartScreen filter is based on the reputation of the publisher, and the certificate is used to identify the publisher for this purpose.
lesterbuck 14y ago
The certificate authority should revoke their signing certificate if their binary is found to contain malware, returning them to the big warning state.

Turing_Machine 14y ago

Apple gives out free developer id certificates. There's no reason Microsoft couldn't do the same.

X-Istence 14y ago
Where does Apple give out free developer id certificates? Last I saw I had to purchase the $99 developer program ... https://developer.apple.com/resources/developer-id/ https://developer.apple.com/resources/developer-id/
- DeepDuh 14y ago
  "Buy this cd boxset and you will get this wonderful christmas album FOR FREE!"
- Turing_Machine 14y ago
  Okay, "free" was poor phrasing. I should have said "no extra charge". Compare this to the situation described in the original article, where the developer had to buy a separate $59 certificate from a third party, on top of what Microsoft charges you for Visual Studio (which looks to be $499 for the cheapest non-evaluation version).
  - ryanbrunner 14y ago
    Express isn't an evaluation version. Also, it's trivially easy to get setup with BizSpark if you're a small startup and get free copies of Visual Studio.
    - Turing_Machine 14y ago
      http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/05/no-cost-desktop-software-development-is-dead-on-windows-8/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/05/no-cos... No mobile apps, no conventional desktop apps, no command line apps... looks pretty "evaluaty" to me. Also: "private developers will have to pay $49 a year, corporations $99 a year." So, on the one hand we have (from Apple): Xcode (free or $5.00, depending on what kind of mood Apple is in that week) Developer program with store access: $99/year Code-sigining certificate: included. From Microsoft we have: Non-crippled Visual Studio: $499 Developer program with store access: $49-$99/year Code-signing certificates: must be purchased separately from a third party. What a bargain!