The Complete Guide to Code Signing Certificates (2025)

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 10:32:48 +0000

Every download is an act of trust. If an installer is swapped in transit or an update is tampered with, users get burned and brands suffer. Operating systems, app stores, and enterprise security tools therefore, ask two questions about every binary they see: Who published this? And has it changed since the publisher released it? A code signing certificate gives reliable, verifiable answers to both. This guide demystifies code signing, what it is, how it works, when you need OV versus EV, how to protect keys, how to integrate signing into CI/CD, and how leading CAs like Comodo, Certera, Sectigo, DigiCert, and GlobalSign fit into your plan.