CODEWITHSUNDEEP
certificatecode-signingsoftware-distributioncode-signing-certificate
technotommy
technotommy

Reputation: 11

“Unknown Publisher” strange certificate issue

Ok, here is the strangest thing you will read. You definitely won't believe me but if you try it for yourself you will see it is true.

For some reason, and for NO reason we are getting an "Unknown Publisher" Windows warning message with one of our programs that we have had in distribution for years.

The exe is code signed just like our other exe's and the problem does not present in our other exe's....only on one program.

Here is where it gets weird:

When the program is downloaded from any website (like our website, dropbox, google drive, etc) and then double-clicked for installing, the Windows warning message appears with "Unknown Publisher" message. However, if I take the SAME file and copy it onto a USB thumb drive, then copy it back onto the computer so that the exe is no longer from the web, but instead from a USB drive, then the warning message doesn't appear and my company name appears instead of "Unknown Publisher".

Also, if I drag and drop from ftp directly to the downloads folder, no issue. If I download the SAME file from our website, issue!

There is no A/V software running. I have tried with spaces and underscores in the file name. Nothing makes a difference. I am out of things to try! :-(

Has anyone experienced this before? Is there some solution?

Here is a link to the program: https://www.digigames.com/Software/Trivia%20Board%20Pro%204.exe

Your help will be greatly appreciated!!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 543

Answers (1)

technotommy
technotommy

Reputation: 11

Ok, the solution was that we are using SHA-1 certificates, which apparently as of Jan 1, 2016 Windows no longer honors. The solution was to replace our certificate with an SHA-2 / SHA-256 certificate.

GOOD GRIEF!!!!!

Upvotes: 1

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