diff --git a/.github/scripts/verify-signature.sh b/.github/scripts/verify-signature.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..c022afc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/verify-signature.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -ue
+
+DISTDIR=$1
+
+export FINGERPRINT=$(gpg --verify ${DISTDIR}/*checksums.txt.sig ${DISTDIR}/*checksums.txt 2>&1 | grep 'using RSA key' | awk '{ print $NF }')
+
+if [[ "${FINGERPRINT}" == "${SIGNING_FINGERPRINT}" ]]; then
+    echo 'verified signature'
+else
+    echo "signed with unknown fingerprint: ${FINGERPRINT}"
+    echo "           expected fingerprint: ${SIGNING_FINGERPRINT}"
+    exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/acceptance-test.yaml b/.github/workflows/acceptance-test.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..00b89940
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/acceptance-test.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+name: 'Acceptance'
+on:
+  push:
+    # ... only act on pushes to master
+    branches:
+      - master
+    # ... do not act on release tags
+    tags-ignore:
+      - v*
+env:
+  GO_VERSION: "1.14.x"
+jobs:
+  # Note: changing this job name requires making the same update in the .github/workflows/release.yaml pipeline
+  Build-Snapshot-Artifacts:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+
+      # TODO: remove me after release
+      - name: Configure git for private modules
+        env:
+          TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ANCHORE_GIT_READ_TOKEN }}
+        run: git config --global url."https://anchore:${TOKEN}@github.com".insteadOf "https://github.com"
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v2
+        with:
+          go-version: ${{ env.GO_VERSION }}
+
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+
+      - name: Restore bootstrap cache
+        id: cache
+        uses: actions/cache@v2
+        with:
+          path: |
+            ~/go/pkg/mod
+            ${{ github.workspace }}/.tmp
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ env.GO_VERSION }}-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}-${{ hashFiles('Makefile') }}
+          restore-keys: |
+            ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ env.GO_VERSION }}-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}-
+            ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ env.GO_VERSION }}-
+
+      - name: Bootstrap dependencies
+        if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: make ci-bootstrap
+
+      - name: Import GPG key
+        id: import_gpg
+        uses: crazy-max/ghaction-import-gpg@v2
+        env:
+          GPG_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.SIGNING_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+          PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.SIGNING_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+
+      - name: GPG signing info
+        run: |
+          echo "fingerprint: ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.fingerprint }}"
+          echo "keyid:       ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.keyid }}"
+          echo "name:        ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.name }}"
+          echo "email:       ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.email }}"
+
+      - name: Build snapshot artifacts
+        run: make snapshot
+        env:
+          GPG_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.SIGNING_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+          PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.SIGNING_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
+        with:
+          name: artifacts
+          path: snapshot/**/*
+
+# TODO: currently we only do a snapshot build, later we will add explicit acceptance tests per-platform
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 95ba8f3e..b9d33d32 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -23,6 +23,15 @@ jobs:
           git fetch origin master
           git merge-base --is-ancestor ${GITHUB_REF##*/} origin/master && echo "${GITHUB_REF##*/} is a commit on master!"
 
+      - name: Build snapshot artifacts
+        uses: fountainhead/action-wait-for-check@v1
+        id: snapshot
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          # This check name is defined as the circle-ci workflow name (in .circleci/config.yaml)
+          checkName: "Build-Snapshot-Artifacts"
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha || github.sha }}
+
       - name: Check static anaylysis, unit, and integration test results
         uses: fountainhead/action-wait-for-check@v1
         id: sa-unit-int
@@ -33,9 +42,10 @@ jobs:
           ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha || github.sha }}
 
       - name: Quality gate
-        if: steps.sa-unit-int.outputs.conclusion != 'success'
+        if: steps.sa-unit-int.outputs.conclusion != 'success' || steps.snapshot.outputs.conclusion != 'success'
         run: |
-          echo "Static/Unit/Integration Status: ${{ steps.sa-unit-int.outputs.conclusion }}"
+          echo "Static/Unit/Integration Status : ${{ steps.sa-unit-int.outputs.conclusion }}"
+          echo "Build Snapshot Artifacts Status: ${{ steps.snapshot.outputs.conclusion }}"
           false
 
   release:
@@ -70,12 +80,29 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
         run: make ci-bootstrap
 
+      - name: Import GPG key
+        id: import_gpg
+        uses: crazy-max/ghaction-import-gpg@v2
+        env:
+          GPG_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.SIGNING_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+          PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.SIGNING_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+
+      - name: GPG signing info
+        run: |
+          echo "fingerprint: ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.fingerprint }}"
+          echo "keyid:       ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.keyid }}"
+          echo "name:        ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.name }}"
+          echo "email:       ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.email }}"
+
       - name: Build snapshot artifacts
         run: make release
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          GPG_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.SIGNING_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+          PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.SIGNING_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+          SIGNING_FINGERPRINT: ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.fingerprint }}
 
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
         with:
           name: artifacts
-          path: dist
\ No newline at end of file
+          path: dist/**/*
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.goreleaser.yaml b/.goreleaser.yaml
index 5f4661d4..7c7d92aa 100644
--- a/.goreleaser.yaml
+++ b/.goreleaser.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+release:
+  # If set to auto, will mark the release as not ready for production
+  # in case there is an indicator for this in the tag e.g. v1.0.0-rc1
+  # If set to true, will mark the release as not ready for production.
+  prerelease: auto
+
+signs:
+  - artifacts: checksum
+    args: ["--output", "${signature}", "--detach-sign", "${artifact}"]
+
 builds:
   - binary: grype
     env:
@@ -29,12 +39,13 @@ nfpms:
       - rpm
       - deb
 
-brews:
-  - tap:
-      owner: anchore
-      name: homebrew-grype
-    homepage: *website
-    description: *description
+# TODO: add back in when open sourced
+#brews:
+#  - tap:
+#      owner: anchore
+#      name: homebrew-grype
+#    homepage: *website
+#    description: *description
 
 archives:
   - format: tar.gz
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 64c416d4..894c0388 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ endef
 
 .PHONY: all bootstrap lint lint-fix unit coverage integration check-pipeline clear-cache help test
 
-all: clean lint check-licenses test ## Run all checks (linting, license check, unit, and integration tests)
+all: clean lint check-licenses test ## Run all checks (linting, license check, unit, integration, and linux acceptance tests tests)
 	@printf '$(SUCCESS)All checks pass!$(RESET)\n'
 
 .PHONY: compare
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ compare:
 	@cd test/inline-compare && make
 
 .PHONY: test
-test: unit integration ## Run all tests (currently unit & integration tests )
+test: unit integration acceptance-linux ## Run all tests (unit, integration, and linux acceptance tests )
 
 help:
 	@grep -E '^[a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | sort | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf "$(BOLD)$(CYAN)%-25s$(RESET)%s\n", $$1, $$2}'
@@ -141,6 +141,9 @@ $(SNAPSHOTDIR): ## Build snapshot release binaries and packages
 	BUILD_GIT_TREE_STATE=$(GITTREESTATE) \
 	$(TEMPDIR)/goreleaser release --skip-publish --rm-dist --snapshot --config $(TEMPDIR)/goreleaser.yaml
 
+.PHONY: acceptance-linux
+acceptance-linux: $(SNAPSHOTDIR) ## Run acceptance tests on build snapshot binaries and packages (Linux)
+
 # TODO: this is not releasing yet
 .PHONY: release
 release: clean-dist ## Build and publish final binaries and packages
@@ -151,18 +154,21 @@ release: clean-dist ## Build and publish final binaries and packages
 
 	# release
 	BUILD_GIT_TREE_STATE=$(GITTREESTATE) \
-	$(TEMPDIR)/goreleaser --skip-publish --rm-dist --config $(TEMPDIR)/goreleaser.yaml
+	$(TEMPDIR)/goreleaser --rm-dist --config $(TEMPDIR)/goreleaser.yaml
+
+	# verify checksum signatures
+	.github/scripts/verify-signature.sh "$(DISTDIR)"
 
 	# create a version file for version-update checks
 	echo "$(VERSION)" > $(DISTDIR)/VERSION
 	# TODO: add upload to bucket
 
 .PHONY: clean
-clean: clean-dist clean-shapshot  ## Remove previous builds and result reports
+clean: clean-dist clean-snapshot  ## Remove previous builds and result reports
 	rm -rf $(RESULTSDIR)/*
 
-.PHONY: clean-shapshot
-clean-shapshot:
+.PHONY: clean-snapshot
+clean-snapshot:
 	rm -rf $(SNAPSHOTDIR) $(TEMPDIR)/goreleaser.yaml
 
 .PHONY: clean-dist