CA/Browser Forum Changes: Read the Hardware Rule Carefully
The CA/Browser Forum's baseline requirements for code signing have tightened steadily since 2023 — and every tightening has been marketed to developers as a reason to buy a cloud signing subscription. The rules deserve a closer read.
The Timeline
- June 2023 — private keys must be generated and stored on certified hardware (FIPS 140-2 Level 2+ / Common Criteria EAL4+). Software PFX files are history.
- 2024 — RSA minimum moves to 3072 bits; ECC (P-256/P-384) increasingly attractive for smaller, faster signatures.
- 2025 — stricter subscriber key-protection attestations and CA verification duties.
- 2026 (watch) — pressure toward shorter certificate validity continues industry-wide; shorter validity means more frequent renewals — timestamping your releases matters more than ever.
Read the Requirement Carefully
The mandate is hardware key storage — not cloud key storage. A SafeNet eToken or YubiKey shipped by your CA satisfies the exact same clause as a managed HSM subscription. The certified hardware in your desk drawer and the certified hardware in a vendor's datacenter differ mainly in one respect: who pays whom, monthly.
What Each Path Costs You
- Cloud route: certificate + service subscription + per-signature fees + internet dependency in your release path — repeating annually, repricing at the vendor's discretion.
- Token route: certificate + a token (often included by the CA) + software to automate it. The token's costs don't recur, and the next rule change doesn't reprice it.
The Automation Gap Is Solved
The genuine historical weakness of tokens — PIN prompts and single-machine attachment — is precisely what OneSigner exists to fix: encrypted stored PINs, folder-watch and API signing, remote hash signing via the AzureSignTool-compatible Key Vault proxy, and session management for unattended servers. ECC certificates (P-256/P-384) are fully supported, including direct YubiKey PIV signing.
Practical Guidance for 2026
- At renewal, take the certificate on a token, not in a vendor cloud — you can always add cloud later; extracting a key from a cloud HSM is by design impossible.
- Consider ECC: smaller keys, faster operations, already ahead of the RSA size treadmill.
- Timestamp every signature — shorter cert lifetimes make untimestamped signatures a liability.
- Automate with software you license once, so compliance changes don't become recurring line items.
Certificates with bundled OneSigner license → · 30-day trial →
Related: For what the rule means in practice when you are choosing a certificate, see our full EV code signing guide: OV versus EV, SmartScreen reputation, and a three-year cost comparison of tokens against cloud HSMs.