Buyer's Guide

This guide is intended to assist buyers in selecting the correct Digi-CA™ Certificate Authority [CA] system for their environment. It is assumed that the audience and readers of this guide have a basic understanding of the concepts of information technology, CA systems and the use of digital certificates and signatures.

Organisations choose to use a CA for many reasons and ultimately it relates to using the internet to improve efficiency, reduce costs and/or increase market reach. In almost every instance, using the internet in these ways encounters security issues of identifying users, authenticating of transactions, events and times, the need for secure servers, digital document and workflow signing and related matters.

Whilst a CA cannot address every conceivable security issue, it solves most of them. There are several recognised CA providers, but few can compete with the ease-of-use and management capabilities offered by Digi-CA™.

A CA issues digital certificates and digital signatures for use by end users or servers. They are used for securing servers (i.e. https:// and the ‘little yellow lock’ that is seen when making payments online) and also for:

• e-Invoices

• Code signing

• Digital signatures

• Qualified signatures

• Two factor authentication

• Document/transaction signing

• Email authentication and/or encryption