? re "Trusted Root Certification Authorities"

  • Thread starter Thread starter David J. Braden
  • Start date Start date
D

David J. Braden

Hi. Three questions/requests:

1) Sorry if this isn't the appropriate group for the sort of questions
following; plz let me know if there is a more appropriate one (I am not yet
picking up on the differences among .basic, .general, and .newuser)

2) I just became aware of the Internet Options/Content/Certificates (& its
apparent twin "Publishers"), and would appreciate any leads, or even direct
info, on which of the "Intermediate Certification Authorities" and "Trusted
Root ..." I should be allowing on my Windows computers, all of which run XP
w/ SP2.

3) For that matter, why the heck are those two buttons --- "Certificates..."
and "Publishers..." --- leading to what to my eye are the same dialog? What
am I not seeing? Or is this some sort of indication that I've messed up my
computers' settings?

Sheesh, OK, OK, that was more than three. In any case, I would really
appreciate some help on this stuff.

Many TIA,
Dave Braden
 
The subject of digital certificates is huge. Hopefully this will be of some
help:

A digital certificate is like a passport: It proves that the owner is who
they claim to be.

A certificate authority is an organization authorized to issue digital
certificates.

A root certificate authority is the highest level certificate authority: It
is authorized to create other certificate authorities.

You can find more details in Internet Explorer Help, and of course the
internet contains an enormous amount of information.
 
Chris (?),
thanks. Cite looks good, prima facie. Do you have any insight into my third
query?
TIA,
DaveB
 
Hi Ted,
Thanks.
Could you plz let me know of the minimal sets of authorizing agents I can
get by with? Or could you suggest a program or two that is smart about this
stuff that I can run past my system?
Lastly, is this even the right ng to be posting such stuff in?

Regards,
DaveB
 
I would suggest you keep the default set that was installed on your browser.

Internet Explorer experts are all over these newsgroups, but the custom
(FWIW) is to ask questions about Internet Explorer in an Internet Explorer
newsgroup, like:
news://microsoft.public.windows,inetexplorer.ie6.browser
 
The certificates button is used to view certificates that are used by
internet explorer. For example if you visit a websit that requires a
certificate you have to first request a cert from the websites
certificate authority. Once your request is granted you would then
install the certificate for use with IE. Installing is equivalant to
the import button on the certificate dialog box. This certificate would
then appear in the certificate dialog box. When you visit the site
again the site will prompt you for the digital certificate. This lets
the website know that you are who you say you are. These types of
certificates are an added layer of security for the typical username
and password authentication. If you dont have the certificate you wont
be able to access the site. Even with the correct username and
password.



The publisher button contains code signing certificates. these
certificates verify that the software really came from who it says. For
example. You install a program from Dell such as Openmanage. When this
is installed the certificate from dell is installed on your machine.
This ensures that you are getting genuine software from the
manufacturer.

If certificates are listed in either of these two dialog box you can
double click them to see their intended purpose.

psg
 
Ted,
Thanks for the help and insight.
DaveB

Ted Zieglar said:
I would suggest you keep the default set that was installed on your
browser.

Internet Explorer experts are all over these newsgroups, but the custom
(FWIW) is to ask questions about Internet Explorer in an Internet Explorer
newsgroup, like:
news://microsoft.public.windows,inetexplorer.ie6.browser
Click to expand...
 
Chrispsg,
Thanks for your help!
DaveB

chrispsg said:
The certificates button is used to view certificates that are used by
internet explorer. For example if you visit a websit that requires a
certificate you have to first request a cert from the websites
certificate authority. Once your request is granted you would then
Click to expand...

<<snip>>
 
Back
Top