0

Let me start by acknowledging that I have absolutely no experience with Windows development and this is purely for academic purposes. I apologize for incorrect terminology and welcome corrections or good resources.

When we run a program from an uncertified vendor we get a security warning from Windows indicating that the software comes from an unverified publisher. (i.e. https://www.remosoftware.com/info/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Unverified-Publisher.png)

Is it possible to set the publisher info displayed there? I don't care whether or not windows displays warnings and alerts telling the user that it is unverified. I don't mean to spoof a certificate or bypass the warnings. An example would be the user running the program and receiving the warning above with "Apple Inc." instead of "Unknown Publisher".

I have seen many different Stack Overflow posts on the topic but overall I am very confused by the Windows ecosystem and different types of projects/templates that can be used. I ended up creating a Winforms project and I am using Installer Projects. I tried setting the deployment project properties fields but it did not work. I created a temporary certificate and I am signing the ClickOnce manifests as well as the assembly on the Winforms project.

In the end, I just want to know whether or not it is possible. Any help is appreciated!

DaArFI
  • 1

1 Answers1

1

It seems very unlikely that you will be able to set the "Publisher" field in that dialong without getting a code signing certificate and applying a signature to your software. That would be a big security risk for people who are going fast and not reading all the words in these dialogs.

If you are distributing this software to the public and you can afford it, I recommend getting a real code signing certificate. I wrote a lot about how to do this: https://www.davidegrayson.com/signing/

If you are only distributing this software to people you are closely affiliated with, you might be able to convince them able to install a certificate from you on their computer (as a trusted root certificate or a trusted publisher), and then Windows would show you has a verified publisher without you needing to pay anything.

David Grayson
  • 141
  • 4