Unknown Publisher Error

  • Thread starter roland.fernandes
  • Start date
R

roland.fernandes

hi

We market our products from a website. Since XP Sp2 some of our users
wanting to download our setups are shown a message that the Publisher
is unknown. I have found out that this happens when the Internet
Explorer Security setting is set at medium. Also I have found out its
because the files are not digitally signed. Will digitally sigining the
files solve the problem and if yes what are the steps required to
obtain a digital signature

Roland
 
R

Richard Urban

Guess you did not even try to read before you spout!

From O/P

<snipped>
Also I have found out its because the files are not digitally signed.

what are the steps required to obtain a digital signature
<snipped>

Now, from the 2nd hit!

About digital signatures Help
Applies to: Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Publisher, Project, Visio

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Microsoft Office 2003 uses Microsoft Authenticode technology to enable you to digitally sign (digital signature: An electronic, encryption-based, secure stamp of authentication on a macro or document. This signature confirms that the macro or document originated from the signer and has not been altered.) a file or a macro project (macro project: A collection of components, including forms, code, and class modules, that make up a macro. Macro projects created in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications can be included in add-ins and in most Microsoft Office programs.) by using a digital certificate (digital certificate: Attachment for a file, macro project, or e-mail message that vouches for authenticity, provides secure encryption, or supplies a verifiable signature. To digitally sign macro projects, you must install a digital certification.). The certificate used to create this signature confirms that the macro or document originated from the signer, and the signature confirms that it has not been altered. When you set the macro security level, you can run macros based on whether they are digitally signed by a developer on your list of trusted sources.

Where to get the digital certificates

You can obtain a digital certificate from a commercial certification authority, such as VeriSign, Inc., or from your internal security administrator or Information Technology (IT) professional. Or, you can create a digital signature yourself using the Selfcert.exe tool.

Note Because a digital certificate you create yourself isn't issued by a formal certification authority, macro projects signed by using such a certificate are referred to as self-signed projects. Certificates you create yourself are considered unauthenticated and will generate a warning in the Security Warning box if the security level is set to High or Medium. Microsoft Office will only trust a self-signed certificate on a computer that has the private key for that certificate available (generally only the computer that actually created the certificate, unless the private key is shared with other computers).

Commercial certification authorities

To obtain a digital certificate from a commercial certification authority, such as VeriSign, Inc., you or your organization must submit an application to that authority.

To learn more about certification authorities that offer services for Microsoft products, see the Microsoft TechNet Security Web site.

Depending on your status as a developer, you should apply for a Class 2 or Class 3 digital certificate for software publishers:

a.. A Class 2 digital certificate is designed for people who publish software as individuals. This class of digital certificate provides assurance as to the identity of the individual publisher.
b.. A Class 3 digital certificate is designed for companies and other organizations that publish software. This class of digital certificate provides greater assurance about the identity of the publishing organization. Class 3 digital certificates are designed to represent the level of assurance provided today by retail channels for software. An applicant for a Class 3 digital certificate must also meet a minimum financial stability level based on ratings from Dun & Bradstreet Financial Services.
When you receive your digital certificate, you are given instructions on how to install it on the computer you use to sign your Microsoft Office solutions.

Internal certification authorities

Some organizations and corporations might have a security administrator or group act as their own certification authority and produce or distribute digital certificates by using tools such as Microsoft Certificate Server. Microsoft Certificate Server can function as a stand-alone certification authority or as part of an existing certification authority hierarchy. Depending on how Microsoft Office digital-signature features are used in your organization, you might be able to sign macro projects by using a digital certificate from your organization's internal certification authority. Or you might need to have an administrator sign macro projects for you by using an approved certificate. For information about your organization's policy, contact your network administrator or IT department.

Signing your own files and macro projects

After you have installed your digital certificate, you can sign files and macro projects.

When you digitally sign a file, you certify that the information in the file is valid and that it has not been modified since the file was signed. As long as a file is unchanged, reviewers can attach signatures to it. You might use a digital signature with important files. When you digitally sign a macro project, your digital signature says that you guarantee that the project is safe. Just as signed files remain signed until the file is modified, signed macro projects remain signed until the macro code is altered.



From the very first hit!

Add a digital signature to a file or macro project Help
Applies to: Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Publisher, Project

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You digitally sign (digital signature: An electronic, encryption-based, secure stamp of authentication on a macro or document. This signature confirms that the macro or document originated from the signer and has not been altered.) a file or a macro project (macro project: A collection of components, including forms, code, and class modules, that make up a macro. Macro projects created in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications can be included in add-ins and in most Microsoft Office programs.) by using a digital certificate (digital certificate: Attachment for a file, macro project, or e-mail message that vouches for authenticity, provides secure encryption, or supplies a verifiable signature. To digitally sign macro projects, you must install a digital certification.).

1.. If you don't already have a digital certificate, you must obtain one.
How?

You can obtain a digital certificate from a commercial certification authority, such as VeriSign, Inc., or from your internal security administrator or Information Technology (IT) professional. Or, you can create a digital signature yourself using the Selfcert.exe tool.

To learn more about certification authorities that offer services for Microsoft products, see the list of Microsoft Root Certificate Program Members.

Notes

a.. The hyperlink (hyperlink: Colored and underlined text or a graphic that you click to go to a file, a location in a file, a Web page on the World Wide Web, or a Web page on an intranet. Hyperlinks can also go to newsgroups and to Gopher, Telnet, and FTP sites.) in this topic goes to the Web. You can switch back to Help at any time.
b.. Because a digital certificate you create yourself isn't issued by a formal certification authority, macro projects signed (macro project: A collection of components, including forms, code, and class modules, that make up a macro. Macro projects created in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications can be included in add-ins and in most Microsoft Office programs.) by using such a certificate are referred to as self-signed projects. Depending on how Microsoft Office digital-signature features are being used in your organization, you might be prevented from using such a certificate, and other users might not be able to run self-signed macros for security reasons.

2.. Do one of the following:
Sign a file

1.. On the Tools menu, click Options, and click the Security tab.
2.. Click Digital signatures.
3.. Click Add.
4.. Select the certificate you want to add, and then click OK.
Sign a macro project

1.. Open the file that contains the macro project you want to sign.
2.. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Visual Basic Editor.
3.. In the Project Explorer, select the project you want to sign.
4.. On the Tools menu, click Digital Signature.
5.. Do one of the following:
a.. If you haven't previously selected a digital certificate or want to use another one, click Choose, select the certificate, and then click OK twice.
b.. To use the current certificate, click OK.
Tips

a.. Sign macros only after your solution has been tested and is ready for distribution, because whenever code in a signed macro project is modified in any way, its digital signature is removed. However, if you have the proper digital certificate on your computer, the macro project will automatically be resigned when saved.

b.. If you want to prevent users of your solution from accidentally modifying your macro project and invalidating your signature, lock the macro project before signing it. Your digital signature says only that you guarantee that the project has not been tampered with since you signed it. It does not prove that you wrote the project. So locking your macro project doesn't prevent another user from replacing the digital signature with another signature. Corporate administrators might re-sign templates (template: A file or files that contain the structure and tools for shaping such elements as the style and page layout of finished files. For example, Word templates can shape a single document, and FrontPage templates can shape an entire Web site.) and add-ins (add-in: A supplemental program that adds custom commands or custom features to Microsoft Office.) so that they can control exactly what users may run on their computers.

c.. If you create an add-in that adds code to a macro project, your code should determine if the project is digitally signed and notify the user of the consequences of modifying a signed project before continuing.

d.. When digitally signing macros, consider obtaining a timestamp so that others can verify your signature even after the certificate used for the signature has expired. See Microsoft Office Online for more information on macro security and timestamps.



CAN you read............?


--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard :)

If you knew half as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 

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