Microsoft® .NET Development for Microsoft Office

Chapter 12. Security

Microsoft Office supports the use of Authenticode technology to enable you to digitally sign a file or a macro project by using a digital certificate. The certificate used to create this signature confirms that the macro or document originated from the signer, and the signature confirms that it has not been altered. When you set the macro security level in Office applications, you can determine whether to run macros, based on whether they are digitally signed by a developer on your list of trusted sources.

Digital signatures are also routinely used to strengthen the security of Microsoft .NET assemblies. Managed assemblies actually support two levels of digital security: strong-naming and digital signing. Strong-naming an assembly ...