How do I install a digital signature in Outlook?

John Savill

December 21, 1999

2 Min Read
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A. A Digital ID, also known as a digital certificate, is theelectronic equivalent to a passport or membership card. It is a credential,issued by a trusted authority, that you can present electronically to proveyour identity or your right to access information. There are a number ofauthorities who can grant these certificates, VeriSign is the Microsoftpreferred certificate provider.

To request a digital certificate perform the following:

  1. Start Microsoft Outlook

  2. Choose "Options..." from the Tools menu.

  3. Select the "Security" tab.

  4. Click on the "Get a Digital ID..." button at the bottom of thesecurity options window.

  5. From the Microsoft web page that is displayed, click on VeriSign's"Enrol Now" icon.

  6. Fill out the enrolment form with your identifying and billing information.

  7. You will receive an email from VeriSign to corroborate your email address.Follow the instructions in this email to download and install your Digital IDon your computer's hard drive

You can now configure Outlook via the Tools - Options - Security to attach adigital signature to every outgoing message or it can be manually added tomessages individually. More information on this can be found athttp://www.verisign.com/securemail/outlook98/outlook.html.

If you have multiple machines with Outlook you can install your digitalcertificate on them by exporting the digital certificate and then importing onthe others as follows:

On the machine with the certificate installed perform the following:

  1. Start Outlook

  2. From the Tools menu select Options

  3. Select the Security tab

  4. Click the 'Import/Export Digital ID..' button

  5. Select the 'Export your digital ID to a file'

  6. Under Digital ID click Select and choose your certificate

  7. Select an area to save to and enter a password

  8. Click OK

On the other machines copy the digital ID file created and perform thefollowing:

  1. Start Outlook

  2. From the Tools menu select Options

  3. Select the Security tab

  4. Click the 'Import/Export Digital ID..' button

  5. Select the 'Import existing digital ID from a file'

  6. Select the file the digital ID was saved to

  7. Enter the password for the ID

  8. Enter the Digital ID name, e.g. John Savill

  9. Click OK

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