INSTALLING PCZIP

WHY DO I SEE THIS WARNING
AND CAN I TRUST THIS PROGRAM?

Programs written for Microsoft Windows are required to be

digitally signed.

WHAT IS CODE SIGNING?

Code signing increases user confidence and trust

Code Signing Certificates are used by software developers to digitally sign applications, drivers, executables and software programs as a way for end-users to verify that the code they receive has not been altered or compromised by a third party.

(Quote above is from https://www.digicert.com/signing/code-signing-certificates)

HOW DOES CODE SIGNING WORK?

Software writers have to pay a third-party company to get a certificate that they then can attach to their installation setup file. This can cost from around £100 (about $140) to as much as £350 (about $500) valid for one year only.

Needless to say, this is rather prohibitive for those like us who produce free software!

Once the certificate file has been purchased, the User Account Control popup will now show the name of the Software Publisher, rather than the less secure sounding “Unknown Publisher”.

Software writers can still create their own certificate and include it in the application setup executable without having to pay a third party, but Windows will not install it in its Trusted App location, and so the UAC popup will still show the warning about the unknown publisher.