[Marketplace] Additional validations on publisher, extension display name and verified domain

[amit-kulkarni-in]

We have deployed improvements and validations in VS Marketplace for extension author scenarios to improve the trust and security of the VS Marketplace ecosystem.

• Unique publisher display name and Unique extension display name validations: Live Now
  Publisher display name and extension display name are information visible in the extension display page, having these parameters same in multiple extensions confuses the VS Marketplace consumer in selection. The new validations in VS Marketplace prevents extension authors to have duplicate publisher display name and extension display name at the time create and change flow. Security is of paramount importance for VS Marketplace consumers these validations prevent attackers from masquerading.

• Verified Domain validations: Live Now
  Publisher domain verification demonstrates authenticity for the publisher. The publisher domain verification is a manual process at VS Marketplace team. We earlier had allowed verified publisher to change their display name. The new change revokes the verified publisher status whenever there is change in the publisher display name in management change. This additional validation would allow any publisher the abuse of verified domain. Note once the verified publisher is revoked, publisher can still re-apply for domain verification as outlined in the documentation.        

While these are initial steps in improving the security and trust of the ecosystem, we are continuously enhancing the service and appreciate your feedback.