Microsoft 2007 Office system provides many security improvements over its predecessors, including digital document signing. By digitally signing a document, you can confirm that you are the originator of the document and help prove that the document has not changed since the time you signed it. This white paper introduces the reader to digital signatures: what they are and how to use them.
You can digitally sign a document for many of the same reasons you might place a handwritten signature on a paper document. A digital signature is used to help authenticate the identity of the creator of (authenticate: The process of verifying that people and products are who and what they claim to be. For example, confirming the source and integrity of a software publisher’s code by verifying the digital signature used to sign the code.) digital information — such as documents, e-mail messages, and macros — by using cryptographic algorithms.
Digital signatures are based on digital certificates. Digital certificates are verifiers of identity issued by a trusted third party, called a certification authority or CA. This works similarly to the use of standard identity documents in the non-electronic world. For example, a trusted third party such as a government
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