Chapter 8: Application Deployment For Mobile; Introduction; Security; Application Security - Symbol MC909X Integrator Manual

Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Chapter 8 Application Deployment for Mobile 5.0

Introduction

This chapter describes new features in Windows Mobile 5.0 including new security features, how to package
applications, and procedures for deploying applications onto the mobile computer.

Security

The MC909X mobile computers implement a set of security policies that determine whether an application is
allowed to run and, if allowed, with what level of trust. To develop an application, you must know the security
configuration of the device, and how to sign an application with the appropriate certificate to allow the
application to run (and to run with the needed level of trust).

Application Security

Application security controls the applications that can run on the mobile computer.
Trusted - All applications must be digitally signed by a certificate on the mobile computer.
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Prompted - User is prompted to allow unsigned applications to run.
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Open - All applications run.
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Developers can include their own certificates and provision the device to "trusted."

Digital Signatures

Digital signatures provide a way to authenticate the author of EXEs, DLLs, and packages. Digitally signed
applications give users confidence that an application comes from where they think it comes from. For
example, if an end-user downloads an update package from the internet that is digitally signed with Symbol's
software certificate, they are assured that the package is authentic and that it was created by Symbol. By
enforcing the use of digital signatures, users can also prevent malicious applications from executing on the
mobile computer. For example, users can provision the mobile computer to only execute "trusted" applications
(digitally signed).
Symbol ships all Windows Mobile 5.0 based products in an "open" state, which means all signed and unsigned
applications should work. However, customers can still reconfigure their mobile computers to operate in the
"trusted" mode. This means that only applications signed with a certificate from the Privileged Execution Trust
Certificate Store can run.
Application Deployment for Mobile 5.0