Announcement:

EOS notice for Symantec Mobile Code Signing Certificate impacting Windows Phone 8.1 and 10 management

Symantec/DigiCert has been sending official email communication that Microsoft and DigiCert/Synamtec Website Services will discontinue the issuance of Symantec Enterprise Mobile Code-Signing Certificate to organizations beyond February 28, 2019. This means that organizations that use MaaS360 MDM for Windows Phone 8.1 or Windows  10 Mobile management, will not be able purchase or renew Symantec Enterprise Mobile Code-Signing Certificate beyond Feb 28, 2019.
 
The specific announcement says "Important EOS Notice to Program Developers for Windows/App Dev/Office/Azure". This official notification is being sent to only the email id which was used at the time of certificate purchase.  
 
Recommendation:
Organizations looking to continue Windows Phone 8.1 or Windows 10 mobile management via MaaS360 should consider renewing their existing signing certificates for at least a period of 3 years for service continuity.

Symantec is offering a discount on a 3 year certificate for customers to purchase before February 28th (US $749.00).  These certificates should be uploaded to MaaS360 portal as soon as possible to continue management of existing devices.  

After February 28 2019, no more certificates will be issued by Symantec for this purpose. No replacement vendor has been announced by Microsoft  for issuing these certificates. Self-signed certificates or any other vendor certificates will not work. 

Impact: 

Existing enrolled devices will continue to work as long as existing certificate is valid.

Following are the services that will not work post expiry of the certificate on existing enrolled Windows Phone devices and any new device enrolments post the expiry of the existing certificate:

1. MaaS360 App for Windows Phone including Messages and App Catalog.
2. MaaS360 Email for Windows Phone
3. MaaS360 Browser for Windows Phone
4. MaaS360 Docs for Windows Phone
5. MaaS360 User Identity Certificate distribution for the purpose of Email access, VPN access or Wi-Fi access.
6. Distribution and Installation of Enterprise (.xap) Silverlight apps compiled on Windows Phone 8.1 SDK via MaaS360 App Catalog. 

Organizations looking to enroll Windows 10 Mobile devices without the availability of Symantec Enterprise Mobile Code-Signing Certificate would also not be able to avail the above services if they are not able to purchase the certificate in time (Feb 28, 2018). Limited MDM capabilities which do not require the certificate will still be available.