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  1. #1
    isladogs's Avatar
    isladogs is offline MVP / VIP
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    VBA Project Signing

    If anyone is interested, I’ve spent some time testing the new VBA Project Signing feature which is currently available to anyone running Office 365 on an Insiders channel (either Beta or Current Channel Preview). It will soon be released more widely to all those on the Current Channel.



    The feature requires the developer to add a digital signature using a code signing certificate prior to distributing ACCDB/ACCDE apps.
    This has always been possible in MDB/MDE files, but until now, not in ACCDB/ACCDE files

    From my tests, its certainly more complex to setup, at least initially but it will offer some advantages over using Trusted Locations or Trusted Documents:

    1. Digitally signed files will run equally fast from untrusted locations. This is important for those users whose organisations prevent them running files from trusted locations and who, in recent months, may have experienced poor performance due to an anti-malware scan (AMSI) running EVERY time any code is run from an untrusted location

    2. The digital signature is invalidated (and code can no longer run) if any changes are made to code or if action queries are modified.This provides additional security for the developer in that files cannot be modified in those respects after distribution

    If you are interested in knowing more, see my web article and example app:
    https://www.isladogs.co.uk/vba-project-signing/

    I've also done a YouTube video to accompany this article
    https://youtu.be/c5rnlcafBjM

    Hope these are useful to others
    Colin, Access MVP, Website, email
    The more I learn, the more I know I don't know. When I don't know, I keep quiet!
    If I don't know that I don't know, I don't know whether to answer

  2. #2
    Shiznan is offline Novice
    Windows 11 Office 365
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    Would using a code signing certificate allow me to bypass the macro trust warnings when connecting to a backend via \\[IPADDRESS] do you think? I feel like this feature just got taken away, I can trust and connect via hostname but not ipaddress even on a LAN INTERNAL IP

  3. #3
    isladogs's Avatar
    isladogs is offline MVP / VIP
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shiznan View Post
    Would using a code signing certificate allow me to bypass the macro trust warnings when connecting to a backend via \\[IPADDRESS] do you think? I feel like this feature just got taken away, I can trust and connect via hostname but not ipaddress even on a LAN INTERNAL IP
    Presumably this is related to your other thread: Backend .accdb can't reconnect blcoked macros source untrusted (accessforums.net)

    I've not tested using ipaddress but its certainly worth trying as using code signing certificate allow you to bypass the MOTW file block.
    Suggest you test with a self certificate as explained in the article. If that works, then I would purchase a certificate.

    Please report back on your results
    Colin, Access MVP, Website, email
    The more I learn, the more I know I don't know. When I don't know, I keep quiet!
    If I don't know that I don't know, I don't know whether to answer

Please reply to this thread with any new information or opinions.

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