Q: What is a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)?

The CSR is an encrypted text containing the information necessary for the Certificate Authority (CA) to issue your SSL/TLS certificate. ||| Follow the instructions below carefully when filling in the information to generate the CSR. Your SSL/TLS Certificate will be issued with the information contained in the generated CSR. Once the certificate has been issued, it will no longer be possible to change this information. The CSR can be generated on the web server hosting your website or via the <a href="https://cp.flexbox.cloud/?language=english">FLEXBOX CLOUD Customer Portal</a>. | When generating the CSR, use a key size of 2048 or 4096 bits and do not use accents or special characters when filling in the information, such as: (" ' ! @ # $ % ¨ &amp; * _ - + = § ¬ ¢ £ ³ ² ¹ ` ´ [ ] { } ( ) ª º ^ ~ ? / \ ; : . , < > |) <h3 id="informationrequiredtogeneratethecsr">Information required to generate the CSR:</h3> <ul> <li>Common Name (CN) This field needs to be filled in with the web address for which you want to use the SSL/TLS Certificate. It consists of the host + domain. Example: www.yourdomain.com If you have purchased a WildCard Certificate, insert . to the left of the domain or common name, for example .yourdomain.com or *.subdomain.yourdomain.com</li> <li>Organization (O) For OV or EV validation certificates, enter your company name. For DV certificates, enter the company name or the name of the person responsible for the domain. This field will only be checked and validated for organization validation (OV) and ex</li> </ul>

Question 1

What is a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)?

Accepted Answer

The CSR is an encrypted text containing the information necessary for the Certificate Authority (CA) to issue your SSL/TLS certificate.

||| Follow the instructions below carefully when filling in the information to generate the CSR. Your SSL/TLS Certificate will be issued with the information contained in the generated CSR. Once the certificate has been issued, it will no longer be possible to change this information.

The CSR can be generated on the web server hosting your website or via the FLEXBOX CLOUD Customer Portal.

| When generating the CSR, use a key size of 2048 or 4096 bits and do not use accents or special characters when filling in the information, such as: (" ' ! @ # $ % ¨ & * _ - + = § ¬ ¢ £ ³ ² ¹ ` ´ [ ] { } ( ) ª º ^ ~ ? / \ ; : . , < > |)

Information required to generate the CSR:

Common Name (CN) This field needs to be filled in with the web address for which you want to use the SSL/TLS Certificate. It consists of the host + domain. Example: www.yourdomain.com If you have purchased a WildCard Certificate, insert . to the left of the domain or common name, for example .yourdomain.com or *.subdomain.yourdomain.com
Organization (O) For OV or EV validation certificates, enter your company name. For DV certificates, enter the company name or the name of the person responsible for the domain. This field will only be checked and validated for organization validation (OV) and ex

Question 2

What is Code Signing?

Accepted Answer

Code Signing Certificates are used by software developers to digitally sign applications, drivers, executables, and software programs. This allows end users to verify that the code they receive has not been altered or infected by a third party. They include your signature, your company name, and a timestamp if desired.

When software is digitally signed, a digital certificate is used to create an encrypted signature that is attached to the software file. This signature allows users to verify the software's origin and ensure that it has not been altered or corrupted since its creation.

Code signing offers important benefits such as ensuring that the software has not been tampered with before installation, increasing users' trust in the software's origin, and helping to prevent malware attacks. Users can verify the signature before installing software to ensure that it comes from a trusted source.

The benefits of Code Signing Certificates are:

Protects your intellectual property and your company's reputation.
Ensures that the software has not been compromised by malware after being digitally signed.
Prevents the display of security warning messages in applications.
Build trust and increase adoption and sales of your software.
Comply with security policies and contractual obligations.

To buy or renew an Code Signing certificate, check out our offers: https://flexbox.cloud/en/code-signing-certificates/

Question 3

What is required to order the DigiCert Secure Email For Business Certificate?

Accepted Answer

Before you submit your S/MIME Certificate request, please ensure you have:

The domain of your email address registered to your organization.
A business phone number that can be found through a third-party directory.
Business headquarters and incorporation information.
Billing, technical and corporate authority contact details.

The S/MIME Certificate is issued per user (per e-mail address). For example: If you want to use the S/MIME Certificate for 5 users in your company, you need to order 5 S/MIME Certificates.

|| Due to the validation requirements, there may be a delay between when you place your order and when you receive your certificate. After submitting your order, the order status will show as Pending while DigiCert validates the order.

Upon completion of the organization validation process, we will send you an email with a link to generate the certificate directly in your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera or Safari). Once the certificate is generated, you can export it to a PFX file (PKCS12) in your browser.

If you don't have an S/MIME Certificate or need to renew your existing one, check out our offerings: https://flexbox.cloud/en/secure-email-smime-certificate/

Question 4

How does DigiCert Secure Email For Business Certificate validation process work?

Accepted Answer

For DigiCert Secure Email For Business Certificate orders, industry standards require DigiCert to validate the organization included in your certificate request before we can issue your certificate.

The validation process is required to:

Verify the legal existence of the organization and make sure it is in good standing.
Verify the legal physical address for the organization.
Confirm your authority to order a certificate for the organization.

To verify your organization's existence and status, DigiCert checks corporate registries, such as local government registration records, Dun & Bradstreet, and Business Profile on Google. DigiCert also checks for a history of fraud or phishing, and whether your organization is listed in government restricted entities or anti-terrorism databases.

Most of the organization verification work is done by DigiCert, we generally ask for very little help from you. However, a DigiCert validation agent may reach out to you for an acceptable document to help DigiCert confirm your organization is a legally and lawfully formed organization.

To prove your domain ownership, there are two options:

Email Verification: DigiCert sends an email with a verification link to five constructed email addresses for the domain: admin, administrator, webmaster, hostmaster, and postmaster @[domain_name].
DNS Verification: Add a DigiCert generated token to the domain's DNS as a TXT record.

To confirm your authority to order certificates for th

Question 5

What are the requirements for digitally signing and encrypting an email?

Accepted Answer

First import and configure your S/MIME Certificate in your system or mail client.

To send a digitally signed email, the recipient does not need to have an S/MIME Certificate. Your digital signature will automatically be validated.

Email encryption is only possible if both sender and recipient have a valid S/MIME certificate and the public keys have been exchanged in advance. To exchange the public keys, simply exchange a digitally signed email with the recipient.

If you don't have an S/MIME Certificate or need to renew your existing one, check out our offerings: https://flexbox.cloud/en/secure-email-smime-certificate/

Question 6

How do I backup my S/MIME Certificate?

Accepted Answer

After successfully collecting your S/MIME Certificate, it will then be available in a keystore used by the browser.

Users can then export the certificate from the browser into a PKCS#12 (PFX/P12) format, which is going to contain the Certificate and its corresponding Private Key.

If you don't have an S/MIME Certificate or need to renew your existing one, check out our offerings: https://flexbox.cloud/en/secure-email-smime-certificate/

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