Obtaining a Digital Certificate from a Public CA

To make use of the public-key technology offered by Microsoft, you first need to obtain a Digital ID. Owing to the increasing demand for Digital IDs, a large number of commercial Certification Authorities (CA) such as VeriSign and Thawte offer digital certificates that can be used for many purposes like secure e-mail and macro-signing.

Commercial CAs issue various types of certificates, including the following:

• Personal certificates for people to digitally sign e-mail and exchange information securely over a public network.

• Client authentication certificates and server authentication certificates, used for transmitting information securely between clients and servers.

• Software publisher certificates, used by commercial software companies that digitally sign their software.

CAs can also issue many other types of certificates. Each CA has its own Certificate Practices Statement (CPS) which forms the basis on which the CA operates. It is a good idea to visit a CA’s Web site and read its CPS before you decide from which CA you will obtain your certificate.

When you choose a CA, you should consider the following questions:

• Is the CA a trusted entity operating a certification practice that meets your needs and operates efficiently in your region?

• Is the CA well known? Do most people recognize your CA as reputable and trustworthy? If you choose a CA with a questionable reputation, users may reject your certificate.

• Does the CA require detailed information from you to verify your credentials?

• Does the CA have a system for receiving online certificate requests, such as requests generated by a key manager server? Such a system can save you a lot of time and speed up the process of requesting, obtaining and installing certificates.

• Does the cost of the CA service match your requirements?

Once you have decided which commercial CA you will obtain your certificate from, you must submit a request to that CA. Many CAs support online enrollment procedure.

Select one of the Cryptographic Service Providers delivered with the Security Platform Solution to be used for your certificate.

Once your request has been processed, you will receive instructions on how to install and use it.

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