What is Code Signing Certificate? How Does it Work?

Code Signing Certificate works as a blessing for software developers which ensures that the code signed by the developers is legitimate and is not altered since it is made.

Anonymous software faces many difficulties like illegal identity, spyware, malware, and harmful code. To get rid of malicious software downloads, software code verification is essential. If any malicious or anonymous download initiates, it simply shows a message “unknown publisher.”

To keep the code safe, Code Signing Certificate is an ideal solution as it affirms the author’s name. Software developers and Webmasters take benefit from such a certificate because it creates the trust in their names and creates it more difficult to alter their products.

Code Signing Certificate works on PKI (public key infrastructure) consists of a public key and private key out of which private key is used to sign the data, and the public key is used to confirm the signature of the data. Upon signing the software code, you can timestamp your code to avoid unwanted expiry of your digital certificate. When you sign the code, users easily put trust on such software and download them as it increases credibility among software users.

The code signing certificate is useful to sign the Content like configuration file, software objects, manual, device drivers, virus updates. There are many trusted certificate authorities (CA) such as Comodo, Sectigo, and Digicert provide Code Signing certificates.

Compare Code Signing Certificates and Buy

	Comodo Code Signing Certificate	Sectigo Code Signing Certificate	DigiCert Code Signing Certificate
Price (per year)	$226.10	$226.10	$380.00
	BUY NOW	BUY NOW	BUY NOW
Vendor Price	$327.00	$327.00	$588.00
Product SKU	S2BCMD316	S2BSCT364	S2BDIG527
Certificate Authority	Comodo	Sectigo	DigiCert
Category	Code Signing Certificate	Code Signing Certificate	Code Signing Certificate
Validation Method	Organization Validation	Organization Validation	Organization Validation
Key Storage	USB token or HSM	USB token or HSM	USB token or HSM
Delivery Method	Vendor Provided hardware token, and Hardware security module (HSM)	Vendor Provided hardware token, and Hardware security module (HSM)	Vendor Provided hardware token, Existing supported hardware token, Hardware security module (HSM), Cloud HSM
Delivery Time	5 to 7 Days	5 to 7 Days	5 to 7 Days
Supported Key Type(s)	RSA, ECC	RSA, ECC	RSA, ECC
Supported Key Length(s)	3072-bit or 4096-bit	3072-bit or 4096-bit	3072-bit or 4096-bit
Hash Algorithm	SHA – 2, Up to 256-bits	SHA – 2, Up to 256-bits	SHA – 2, Up to 256-bits
Software Signing	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Certificate Reissuance	Unlimited (exluding token)	Unlimited (exluding token)	Unlimited (exluding token)
Hardware Certification	FIPS-140-L2	FIPS-140-L2	FIPS-140-L2
Includes Publisher Identity	Verified Organization Name	Verified Organization Name	Verified Organization Name
Time Stamp	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible
Instant Reputation w/ MS Smartscreen Filter	No	No	No
Supported Platforms	Java, Microsoft Authenticode, MS Office Document, Adobe Air, MS VBA	Java, Microsoft Authenticode, MS Office Document, Adobe Air, MS VBA	Java, Microsoft Authenticode, MS Office Document, Adobe Air, MS VBA
Vendor Refund Policy	Till 30 – Days (If Not Issued or Dispatched)	Till 30 – Days (If Not Issued or Dispatched)	Till 30 – Days (If Not Issued or Dispatched)
Technical Support	Free Live Chat and Ticket Support	Free Live Chat and Ticket Support	Free Live Chat and Ticket Support
Installation Service	Purchase on Demand	Purchase on Demand	Purchase on Demand

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