Digital Certificates (CERT) Requests
CERT's | Digital ID | External Certificate Authority | Secure Socket Layer
Digital Certificates are used to prove that you are really who you say you are and more importantly that the content of your Web site, email or server is truly the content that you created and not content that was somehow manipulated or mirrored by unauthorized persons.
The Internet is full of criminals trying to trick unsuspecting people into filling out online forms, responding to emails, or downloading applications that will ultimately lead to loss of sensitive data, infection by malicious code (such as viruses) or denial of services that can cause disruption to servers or applications. That is why it is important to not only identify that the content or services you are viewing online are authentic but to provide a method for others to check the authenticity and integrity of content and systems that you make available online.
Proving your Online Identity can be accomplished by implementing a Digital Certificate, which is a viewable electronic document that conforms to the International Telecommunications Union X.509 specification. It contains the owner's name, public key, expiration date and a serial number as well as digital signature of the owner and issuing organization. However, because of stringent controls on the distribution of Digital Certificates and strict policy in place for those who provide them you will have to complete several tasks to obtain one depending on the kind for which you are applying. Learn more about the different Digital Certificates available please visit the links listed above. Note: Before implementing a Digital Certificate be sure to backup your computer files, especially any work related files, browser favorites or bookmarks and any files saved in the My Documents directory. Once a Digital Certificate is implemented there is no reasonable expectation of retrieving your data should the Digital Certificate be lost without a current data backup. It is recommended that the Digital Certificate also be backed up once it is implemented so that if there is ever a hard drive failure or the computer needs to be serviced then the Digital Certificate will be intact for reinstall.