asked on Explaining Digital Certificate and Signatures
I'm trying to understand what a digital certificate is and why I need it to sign a document. I know in the following instructions I can create my own digital certificate for free, but when and how do I use a digital certificate to sign something? What is a digital signature in comparison to taking a picture of my signature and pasting it.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Microsoft OfficeAdobe AcrobatSecurity
Last Comment
Sam Jacobs
ASKER
so how does it relate with an average person signing a pdf or excel sheet?
If you send me a signed .PDF or .XLS, I know that it was truly sent by you and that it wasn't altered along the way. The same holds for a signed email.
ASKER
I understand that but what am I using to do that? Is it a third party program?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
THIS SOLUTION ONLY AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS.
View this solution by signing up for a free trial.
Members can start a 7-Day free trial and enjoy unlimited access to the platform.
For example, I use my document signing certificate when I create PowerShell scripts, which adds a digital signature block with a hash to the bottom of my scripts.
This digital signature block does two things:
- It identifies me to the user running the script (if they don't trust me, they should not run the script), and
- It gives the user confirmation that the script has not been modified in any way (or the hash will not match).