Symbian developer networks has published a paper where the reason behind Symbian signed system is explained and also what benefits users and developers have thanks to this sometimes time consuming and annoying process.

"Like celebrity, success can bring unwanted attention. For a successful software platform, that means the now-familiar crop of viruses, worms, trojans and the like, targeting the ordinary users of the platform. This is attention that mobile phone users can do without.

Symbian OS v9 introduces a new, system-wide platform security architecture, together with a signing program, Symbian Signed, that forms its public face and serves as gatekeeper to the platform.

For most users, this is probably not controversial. For Symbian OS developers, however, as anyone who has followed the developer forums will know, it is still a hot topic in the context of Symbian OS v9.

This paper aims to help developers through the ‘pain barrier’, as well as clarify the benefits which lie beyond. Platform security, after all, has a simple goal: to keep out the kinds of intentionally rogue software, or ‘malware’, which plague the PC world. Developers ignore that point at their peril."

Read ‘Platform Security and Symbian Signed‘

[via: developer.symbian.com]