Get one!
A digital ID can provide proof of who you are on the web or in email. Without a digital ID you are for the most part considered anonymous on the web or in email. Sure an email may have your name on it as the sender, however how does anyone that receives your emails know it is really you, or just a virus that got on someone’s system and is sending emails to others with your name on it(*spoofing)?
Digital Ids are issued through an organization called
a “Certificate Authority”, these CAs provide the credentials to prove you
are who you say you are. You can request an ID from a CA and they
ask a series of questions that only you can provide answers for, give them
a piece if of ID (i.e. Drivers License) over a secure web session (SSL)
and in turn they issue a Cert in your name or in their name with you as
a reference.
Once acquired you can now “digitally sign” your emails and everyone who gets your emails will know that it really did come from you. You can also protect your emails from unauthorized viewing by encrypting your emails with a password. This password can be given to the recipient and when they get your email, enter the password and they can then read your email. Without the password the email will not decrypt and they won’t see the contents. Very handy when sending bids, confidential information and critical or legal documents through the email system.
For more information about digital Ids contact your
computer service provider.
* Email spoofing; The ability for a virus or other malicious program to extract email addresses from your address book and sends itself out to may other people without anyone really knowing who sent it. It does this by picking a name (email address) from your address book and placing that name in the “From” line, then the virus will pick another name and put that name into the “To” line of an email. It then sends that email with it’s attachment out to infect other computers.