i use a digital certificate for all email that i send. it helps people verify i am actually me, and not some spammer etc. i use thawtes free email digital certificate to do the signing. i also use apple mail to send email, this is how i got the certificate working in mail.
first you must request a certificate:
1. launch firefox
2. go to thawte’s web site, http://www.thawte.com/secure-email/personal-email-certificates/
4. register with thawte dont worry its free!
5. click certificates
6. click request a certificate
7. click the red request button under “X.509 Format Certificates”
8. in the popup box select “Mozilla Firefox/Thunderbird, Netscape Communicator/Messenger”
9. click request
10. click next
11. select the email address from the window. [this is the address that the cert will use.]
12. firefox will prompt you for a password, this will secure the private key. this password is used by firefox’s internal password/certificate management system.
13. click “view certificate status”
14. this page will show if the certificate has been issued or not yet. it should show as either “pending” or “issued”. if it’s pending, wait until it’s issued. this shouldn’t take longer than about 5-10 mins.
15. once the certificate has been issued view the details of it an then click the “fetch” icon at the bottom of the detail page.
16. inside firefox on the menu bar click firefox >> preferences >> advanced >> encryption >> view certificates button. this will show a list of certificates that you have downloaded and installed into firefox.
17. select the certificate you just created and click the “backup” button.
18. enter a filename and save it somewhere safe.
19. quit firefox
adding the certificate to your keychain:
1. double click the file you saved in #18 above
2. enter the password you used in #12 above for the certificate, you also can select which keychain you want to add the certificate to.
start using it in apple mail:
1. in mail all you need to do is select the “sign” button, to digitally sign your email.
thats it folks!
Matt is a Systems Development Director for a multinational franchise. Matt has lived and worked in Hawaii, Chicago, South Florida and currently resides outside of Atlanta. He enjoys his hobbies including Technology, Gadgets/EDC, Fountain Pens, Wetshaving, Clocks, Antiques & Coffee. He even roasts his own coffee weekly.
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