Unsigned binaries trigger warnings and UAC dialogs

[InterLinked1]

Upgraded KiTTY today for the first time in forever, and noticed some odd behavior when opening it.

I installed it to Program Files using a batch script so I can pin it to the start menu and the taskbar. However, when opening it, I get prompted that the binary isn't signed:

Not the end of the world, but when I uncheck "Always ask", a UAC prompt appears on the Run button:

Clicking Run then triggers a UAC dialog, and if dismissed, KiTTY opens normally. Likewise, if the box remains checked, it opens normally. However, it's annoying to have to do this repeatedly. I'm not sure what's triggering this strange behavior, but perhaps the binaries could be signed with some signature to avoid this impediment to usability? I know that PuTTY has never been signed historically but frankly I think this would be an easy improvement that improve usability out of the box so stuff like the below isn't necessary.

In the meantime, using the streams utility part of Sysinternals, this can be worked around as follows:

streams64.exe -d "C:\Program Files\KiTTY\*.exe"

streams v1.60 - Reveal NTFS alternate streams.
Copyright (C) 2005-2016 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

C:\Program Files\KiTTY\cygtermd.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\genpass.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\kageant.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\kitty-beta.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\kitty.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\kittygen.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\kitty_nocompress.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\kitty_portable.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\klink.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\kscp.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA
C:\Program Files\KiTTY\ksftp.exe:
   Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA

[yndx-melkov]

Just in case, have you tried to put kitty to some other place rather than Program Files, like \Users...\AppData\Local ?

[InterLinked1]

No, because then it wouldn't be available for all users, just per user.
I don't think it's the location, I think it's that it's unsigned.

[yndx-melkov]

Yes, you are right. I've just verified that kitty.exe. Browsers set the NTFS stream you have mentioned when a file is downloaded.

If you download a .zip archive from the releases page, for example, and unpack it by a tool that does not preserve those streams (like most tools), the problem is just not visible.

I think that signing kitty.exe will cause time loss and significant expenses for @cyd01.