How do I install a digital signature in Outlook?

A. A Digital ID, also known as a digital certificate, is the electronic equivalent to a passport or membership card. It is a credential, issued by a trusted authority, that you can present electronically to prove your identity or your right to access information. There are a number of authorities who can grant these certificates, VeriSign is the Microsoft preferred 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 the security 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 ID on your computer's hard drive

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

If you have multiple machines with Outlook you can install your digital certificate on them by exporting the digital certificate and then importing on the 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 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 '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