Using Digital Certificates with Netscape Mail
Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Certificate Issuance
- 3. Certificate Usage
- 4. Sending an encrypted e-mail
- 5. Extracting an already installed digital certificate from Netscape
- 6. Installing a Certificate using Netscape
HARICA provides to all its subscribers and members digital certificates for e-mail usage.
In order to acquire you personal digital certificate you must first trust HARICA's Certification Authority.
In this document you will find step-by-step instructions on how to obtain your digital certificate using Netscape Mail. If you are using Outlook Express as your main e-mail client, please select the relevant instructions from this link.
In order to be issued with a digital certificate for your Netscape Mail e-mail account please navigate to user certificate issuance using Netscape. This link requires identification. You will have to complete the fields "Surname" and "E-mail address" and click on Next.
The following pages will guide you on how to confirm your identity with the Certification Authority and how to fill in your application.
| During the submission of your application, you will be asked to aprovide a Master Password. This password will be used to scramble your certificate store. Should you misplace this password you will not be able to further use your certificate. |
| Should you encounter any errors during the abover procedure, please send an e-mail outlining the problem to this e-mail address harica.gr |
When the processing of your application has been completed you will be notified by e-mail in order to acquire your personal digital certificate. This e-mail will provide the link that you must use in order to accept and install your certificate.
| ATTENTION ! The digital certificate can only be acquired and used via the specific internet browser that was used to make the relevant application. |
After you have followed all the procedures above you will now be in possession of your digital certificate and you will be able to start using it directly.
You can use your digital certificate to sign you e-mail messages in order to prove your identity. Also you can use your digital certificate to send scrambled e-mail messages. You can select the option to automatically sign all outgoing e-mail messages that you will be sending to your recipients. Or you can choose either to sign or not every single e-mail message that you will be sending out to your correspondents.
| ATTENTION ! You must correctly enter you e-mail address to Netscape Messenger (exactly the way you entered your address during the certificate issuance procedure) in order to be able to use your certificate. |
In order to select the certificate that will be used and preselect the signature that will be used please go to Edit -> Mail & Newsgroup Account settings ... from Netscape Mail's basic menu :
In the window that will appear as shown below select security. From the right tag, press Select to choose the certificate and click on Digitally Sign This Message. After that press OK.
From now on all the e-mail messages that you will be sending out will also be automatically signed with your digital certificate.
In option Compose you can select the signature of the e-mail message. You can change your options from this menu Options -> Security :
Should you wish to sign your e-mail message with your digital certificate select option Digitaly Sign This Message. Should you not wish to sign your e-mail message you will have to deselect the previous option.
Then continue to send your message in the usual manner. That means the usual manner for a non-signed e-mail.
In the first signed e-mail message that you will send, from the moment you invoked your internet browser, you will be asked to provide the password that you have chosen for your digital certificate : |
4. Sending an encrypted e-mail
When you wish to send an encrypted e-mail message select Encrypt this message from the menu shown below :
You must be in possesion of the certificate of the user you wish to send this scrambled e-mail.If this is not the case the following message will appear when you will try to send the e-mail :
If the receiving party has a HARICA issued digital certificate, then you can search for this certificate from the HARICA website using this link (Certificate Search).
In order to check the identity of the users that you are a holder of their public keys, follow this selection Edit -> Preferences -> Certificates -> Manage Certificates and from there click on the tag Other People's:
5. Extracting an already installed digital certificate from Netscape Communicator
Properly installed digital certificates in a specific browser environment (for example Netscape in your personal computer), can be extract it so they can be transferred to any other browser and application environments.
From the basic menu Netscape Mail follow Edit -> Preferences -> Certificates -> Manage Certificates and from there select the tab Your Certificates:
Select your certificate and then press Backup. You will be asked to enter the password you had selected for the issuance of your certificate. Then you will be asked to protect the exstracted certificate by providing another password.
6. Installing a Certificate using Netscape
In order to install your certificate to Netscape you must first have the file with extension p12, that was created during the extraction of the certificate from its previsously installed environment.
From the basic menu of Netscape Mail go to Edit -> Preferences -> Certificates -> Manage Certificates and from there click on the tab Your Certificates:
Press Import. You will be asked to provide a password with which you wish to encrypt the digital certificate :
Then you will be asked to select your certificate from its repository :
After you have selected your certificate you will be asked to enter the relevant password. If the password you will provide proves to be correct, your certificate will be installed in your internet browser.