Sealing a document with a digital certificate

 

To digitally sign(1) a document, you need to use a digital certificate(2).

 

If you do not have a digital certificate, you must procure one. Digital certificates can be obtained from a commercial Certificate Authority, such as VeriSign, Inc., your internal security administrator or an IT specialist. You may also create a digital signature with Selfcert.exe.

 

For further information on Certificate Authorities offering services for Microsoft products, please visit Microsoft's security website.

​

Procedure

 

In the Tools menu, click on Options, then on the Security tab.

Click on digital signatures

Click on Add.

Select the certificate that you wish to add, and then click on OK.

 

​

 

(1) Digital signature: an electronic, encrypted, secured identification seal on a document. This signature confirms that the document comes from the signee and has not been altered.

(2) Digital certificate: an appendix to a file, a macro project or an e-mail that guarantees it is authentic, provides safe encryption or a true signature. To digitally sign a macro project, you must install a digital certificate.