For years, I have been forced to buy a code signing certificate for a number of my Java applications and every year I feel the pain!
Take Thawte for example which charges $300 per year! Or worse yet, VeriSign at $500 per year!
GoDaddy.com is in the game now and offering 1 year at $200.
Last time I needed a certificate, I purchased it from comodo.com and paid $149 ($166.95 currently) making Comodo the cheapest code signing certificate around! However…
I found out that TuCows offers their authors (author.tucows.com) a discount, and a heavy one at that!!! I picked up a 3 year code signing certificate cheap for only $195 total!
Comodo Code Signing Certificate – 1 yr.: $75
Comodo Code Signing Certificate – 2 yr.: $140
Comodo Code Signing Certificate – 3 yr.: $195
Here is the message I received from Tucows when I completed the transaction.
Thank you for purchasing a Code Signing Certificate from Tucows! Please click the link below to retrieve your certificate(s).
Please Note:
1. Be sure you use the same computer and internet browser to order and retrieve your code signing certificate. Preferred browser either IE4 (or higher) or Firefox 2.0 (or higher). If not your Private Key will be invalidated and you will need to contact us to initiate a new Certificate Request at tucowshelp@tucows.com .
2. PLEASE NOTE: Do Not Re-Request A Certificate If You Are Unsure About The Status Of Your Order. Please send an inquiry email to tucowshelp@tucows.com > to get a status update on your pending certificate request. Please be sure to include your Tucows Sales order number. Making additional certificate requests will add 24 up to 48 additional hours to your wait time for each re-requested certificate.
3. Please wait at least 24-48 hours after you originally place your order as it has to be approved by our code signing certificate support group.
4. After 24-48 hours, log back into your account on the Author Resource Center at https://author.tucows.com .
5. On the left hand side navigation under the title “Resources” click on the “Code Signing Certificates” link.
6. Select the link for the code signing certificate that you purchased under the “Retrieve a previously purchased Code Signing Certificate” heading.
7. The link will take you to the Certificate Authority site. Follow the prompts to fill in any required information.
8. Once you have completed these steps please allow for another 24 hours to validate your identity and to then receive correspondence from Comodo.
9. Once validated you ought to be able to log back in to the Author Resource Center and retrieve your certificate.* Most cost effective fully validated and full supported SSL Certificates available
* As trusted as Verisign & Thawte, yet a fraction of the price
* 99% browser ubiquity
* Industry standard 128bit
* Validation processes as strong as Verisign and far stronger than GeoTrust
* 30 day money back guarantee
* 30 day free replacement and resissue policy
* Varying levels of warranty for specific site needs
* Free SecuritySpace security audit
* Free TrustLogo (worth $119) with every InstantSSL Pro and PremiumSSL Certificate
I finally received my certificate. Comodo is VERY picky about details and if you have one item off, it’s going to take a lot longer to get everything processed. I was told to make one change, then I’d have my cert – I made that change, then they would come back with another item. I didn’t argue and just figured their attention to detail is a good sign (was a pain through!)
I found that on my Ubuntu system, IcedTea NPR Web Browser Plugin would still pop up a warning that it’s an invalid certificate! You can either accept the message and move on, or install java like this:
sudo add-apt-repository “deb http://archive.canonical.com/ lucid partner”
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-fonts
And test out the java install by:
java -version
Summary: If you are programming and looking for a code signing certificate for cheap, then buying your Comodo cert through Tucows will save you a LOT of money!