Any machine running a freshly installed copy of Windows 10 with this update will only install drivers signed with both an EV Certificate AND Microsoft’s Certificate. This new standard requires driver publishers to possess not only an Extended Validation Certificate, but the signed driver file must also be sent to Microsoft, using one of Microsoft’s dashboards, to be signed again by Microsoft themselves. Newer players, however, and specifically those holding a certificate issued after July 2015, are required to adhere to the newest standard, enforced by the latest 1607 update to Windows 10 (aka The Anniversary Update) and published by Microsoft on July 2016. Microsoft incorporated a simple backward compatibility mechanism, so that not only are already-installed drivers not affected by these changes, but old-timers in the industry are still able to use their existing certificates and signed artifacts in future releases without the need to change their existing pipeline. Most users would not even notice these changes. Every few versions and updates, Microsoft publishes a new, stricter, standard for these signatures, requiring driver developers to adjust to the new requirements.

Alongside the expected improvements under and over the hood of the popular OS, Microsoft went a long way to make sure that the drivers you install on your system are approved, compatible and above all – safe – by requiring a certified digital signature on every driver file installed. Deploying for multiple clients with various environments requires us to maintain our product compatibility on all levels with operation systems as old as Windows 7 all the way to the newest Windows 10 with its latest updates. Software compatibility is a core value and a major concern here at Morphisec.

How to Make Your Driver Digitally Signed to Work Across Multiple Windows OS Versions Upon the Latest Changes in Certificate Standards

Windows 7 driver signature