I get warnings every time I try to run something I downloaded, so I've just tuned them out. Unless this one was somehow completely different from those, I wouldn't have given it a second thought.

Unless SmartScreen complains, the order of dialogs and buttons on those dialogs is exactly the same for both signed and unsigned programs. They only differ in content/design elements. That's not what I'd call prominent.

There's nothing like HSTS for signed programs, so it can't be helped, though.

Yeah but loads of software isn't signed so the warning is fairly useless.

Those warnings are as useful as the certificate error ones you get when browsing the web. Most (normal) people see them as annoyances and they do not really protect anyone as they will just click "continue." Same with the UAC pop up that tells you that the app is not signed. Most of the apps I downloaded are not signed...

MS just made all drivers required to be signed and I suspect the next step is to disallow downloads of executables that aren't signed. No, I don't mean smartscreen warnings, I mean a refusal to download entirely with exceptions being put in manually via a control panel item Grandma will be hesitant to mess with and via GPO for enterprise.

Then build out a reputation system for signers. I was recently given a link via steam to watch a video. It had an embedded fake Flash updater. The installer was very clever as it was signed by something like "Browser Company" and looked like the official Flash installer. My local AV and virustotal.com didn't detect it at the time either.

I think the age of it being convenient to run arbitrary executables in Windows is ending. There's just too much liability now, especially in the age of ransomware and kiddie hackers doing it for the lulz.

It's not something that people pay attention to anyways...

Yeah, but many apps for Windows still aren't signed so many users are trained to just click through.

I watched the video in this thread. I would not consider that a prominent warning at all. UAC uses a near identical prompt and I need to click through it daily (average of 2-3 times an hour while doing development). It is not something I would have noticed.