The Your Certificates tab in the Certificate Manager allows you to examine and work with the certificates you have on file that identify you, and to set related security passwords. To select a certificate, click its name. To select more than one certificate, hold down the Control key and click the names of those you want to select. +
The Your Certificates tab in the Certificate Manager allows you to examine and work with the certificates you have on file that identify you. To select a certificate, click its name. To select more than one certificate, hold down the Control key and click the names of those you want to select. -
To perform any of the actions listed here, select the certificates on which you want to act and follow these instructions: +
To perform these actions, select the certificates on which you want to act and click one of these buttons:
The following actions don't require a certificate to be selected first:
+These actions do not require a certificate to be selected:
Back up smart card certificates one at a time: Certificates stored on any other security device, such as a smart card in a smart card reader attached to your computer, will not be backed up by the Backup All button. To back up such certificates, select them individually, then click Backup.
Back up smart card certificates one at a time. Certificates stored anywhere other than the software security device, such as on a smart card in a smart card reader attached to your computer, will not be backed up by the Backup All button. To back up such certificates, select them individually, then click Backup. @@ -72,7 +72,9 @@
Choose a good password: If someone obtains the file containing a certificate that you have backed up and successfully restores the certificate, that person can send messages or access web sites while pretending to be you. This can have negative consequences, for example, if you digitally sign important email messages or manage your bank or investment accounts over the Internet. -
Therefore, it's important to select a certificate backup password that is difficult to guess. For guidelines, see the online document Choosing a Good Password. It's also important to record the password in a safe place—and not anywhere that's easily accessible to someone else. If you forget this password, you can't restore the backup of your certificate.
+Therefore, it's important to select a certificate backup password that is difficult to guess. The password quality meter gives you a rough idea of the quality of your password as you type it based on factors such as length and the use of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
For further guidelines, see the online document Choosing a Good Password. + +
It's also important to record the password in a safe place—and not anywhere that's easily accessible to someone else. If you forget this password, you can't restore the backup of your certificate.
[ Return to beginning of Certificate Manager section ] @@ -80,9 +82,18 @@
-
Before deleting any certificate—even one that has expired—make sure that you won't need it again some day. For example: +
Before deleting any of your own certificates—even one that has expired—make sure that you won't need it again some day. For example, you can use your own expired certificate for reading old email messages that you may have encrypted with the corresponding private key.
The Web Site Certificates tab in the Certificate Manager allows you to examine and work with the certificates you have on file that identify web sites. +
The Web Sites tab in the Certificate Manager allows you to examine and work with the certificates you have on file that identify web sites. -
To perform any of the actions listed here, select the certificate on which you want to act from the list of web site certificates, then follow these instructions: +
To perform these actions, select the certificates on which you want to act and click one of these buttons:
When you select a web site certificate and click Edit, you see a window titled Edit Certificate Settings. Here you specify whether you want to trust the selected certificate for identifying the web site and setting up an encrypted connection with it. +
When you select a web site certificate and click Edit, you see a window titled Edit Certificate Trust. Here you specify whether you want to trust the selected certificate for identifying the web site and setting up an encrypted connection with it. -
If you select "Do not trust the authenticity of this certificate" and click OK, Certificate Manager will no longer trust this certificate for the purposes of identifying this web site or setting up an encrypted connection. If you select this setting and then attempt to visit the web site, you will see one or more warning messages before you can access the site. +
The radio buttons have the following effects: -
If you select "Trust the authenticity of this certificate" and click OK, Certificate Manager will henceforth trust this certificate for the purposes of identifying this web site or setting up an encrypted connection. If you select this setting and then attempt to visit the web site, your browser will access the site with few, if any, warnings. +
In addition to specifying these settings for the certificate shown, you can specify trust settings for the certificate authority (CA) that issued the certificate—that is, you can choose to trust or not to trust different kinds of certificates issued by that certificate authority. For example, you can choose not to trust any web site certificates issued by that certificate authority. +
To edit the certificate settings for the certificate authority that issued the certificate described in the Edit Certificate Settings window, click the Edit button. +
Click OK to implement your choice.
[ Return to beginning of Certificate Manager section ] @@ -140,26 +155,29 @@
The Authorities tab in the Certificate Manager allows you to examine and work with the certificates you have on file that identify certificate authorities (CAs). -
To perform any of the actions listed here, select the certificate on which you want to act from the list of CA certificates and then follow the instructions: +
To perform these actions, select the certificates on which you want to act and click one of these buttons:
When you select a CA certificate and click Edit, you see a window titled Edit Security Certificate Settings. Here you specify the kinds of certificates you trust this CA to certify. If you deselect all the checkboxes, Certificate Manager will not trust any certificates issued by this CA. +
When you select a CA certificate and click Edit, you see a window titled Edit Certificate Trust. Here you specify the kinds of certificates you trust this CA to certify. If you deselect all the checkboxes, Certificate Manager will not trust any certificates issued by this CA. -
If you select "This CA can identify web sites," Certificate Manager will trust certificates issued by this CA for purposes of identifying web sites and encrypting web site connections. If you deselect this checkbox, Certificate Manager will not trust web site certificates issued by this CA. +
The settings have these effects: +
If you select "This CA can identify mail users," Certificate Manager will trust certificates issued by this CA for purposes of signing or encrypting email. If you deselect this checkbox, Certificate Manager will not trust email certificates issued by this CA. +
If you select "This CA can identify software makers," Certificate Manager will trust certificates issued by this CA for the purpose of identifying software makers. If you deselect this checkbox, Certificate Manager will not trust such certificates issued by this CA. +
Click OK to implement the settings you have selected. @@ -198,8 +216,8 @@
When you select a module or device, information about the selected item appears in the middle of the window, and some of the buttons on the right side of the window become available. In general, you perform an action on a module or device by selecting its name and clicking the appropriate button. For example:
To add a new module, click Load. Before adding a new module, you should first install the module software on your computer and if necessary connect any associated hardware device. Follow the instructions provided by the vendor. @@ -213,7 +231,7 @@ mode and back again. For more information, see Choosing a Good Password. +
Therefore, it's important to select a master password that's difficult to guess. The password quality meter gives you a rough idea of the quality of your password as you type it based on factors such as length and the use of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. For further guidelines, see the online document Choosing a Good Password.
It's also important to record your master password in a safe place—and not anywhere that's easily accessible to someone else. If you forget this password, you may not be able to access important information, such as web sites that require passwords or certificates stored on your computer.
@@ -96,11 +96,15 @@If you are using personal certificates, you can control how often the browser requests your master password. Here are some things you should consider when selecting these options:
This setting causes Certificate Manager to request your master password if it needs to access the private key database and the specified interval has elapsed since the last time it used the database. This setting is appropriate if you sometimes send or receive confidential information to or from web sites that support encryption. + +
Note that this setting provides little protection against someone using your computer to send a signed email message in your name.
6/19/2001
+6/27/2001
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