Frequently Asked Questions
What is a certificate?
A certificate is a distinct digital identity card which certifies a communication partner's identity. It is commonly provided by professional certification authorities such as the TC Trust Center GmbH or VeriSign after verification of relevant documents (e.g. an excerpt from the Commercial Register). It always consists of a private and a public key, and proves that the key in fact belongs to the person named in the certificate's user data. It is therefore comparable with an electronic identity card. Euler Hermes Customer Issuing Certificate Authority (EH CICA) provides free certificates as a supplementary service to Euler Hermes customers.
How can you apply for a certificate?
Please contact the Secure E-Mail Support of Euler Hermes Kreditversicherungs-AG to obtain further information on how to apply for a free certificate from Euler Hermes Customer Issuing Certificate Authority (EH CICA).
Which certificate is needed?
We accept various certificates from commercial providers like TC Trust Center GmbH or D-Trust. Customers of Euler Hermes may rely on a free certificate of Euler Hermes Customer Issuing Certificate Authority (EH CICA)! If you'd like to ask if Euler Hermes accepts your certificate, please feel free to contact the Secure E-Mail Support .
What is the Euler Hermes Customer Issuing CA?
The Euler Hermes Customer Issuing CA (EH CICA) forms the basis of trust for secure e-mail communication between Euler Hermes and it's customers. It's complete process definitions are described in EH CICA's Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) which can be found at:
How can you encode an e-mail?
To encode a sent e-mail, you need the public key from your Euler Hermes communication partner. After its first implementation in your e-mail client, you will just need to click on the pertinent button for encoding.
How can you digitally sign an e-Mail?
To use digital signature in sent e-mail, you need a private key for your own e-mail certificate. After its first implementation in your e-mail software, you will just need to click on the pertinent button to sign your e-mail.
How can you backup your certificate and private key?
You can backup your certificate and private key by using MS Internet Explorer's export assistant. A step-by-step instruction is provided with the link below:
What is a digital signature?
A digital signature is a designated data block (Hash-value), which is encoded with the sender's private key and with which the e-mail's authenticity can be verified. Verification of the digital signature can be done with the sender's public key. With digitally signed e-mails, the receiver can be sure that the e-mail was sent by the person indicated in the relevant field for the sender's address and not by an unauthorized third party.
S/MIME
S/MIME (Secure Multipurpose Mail Extension) has been suggested as a standard for encoding and authentification (digital signatures) of electronic mail by a consortium of software producers.
S/MIME-certificates are based on the X.509-format. Popular e-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird or Lotus Notes are supporting this standard.
What is a key?
The private key is a component of a certificate and should never be revealed to others, but instead be saved and password-protected in the computer's certificate database. The private key is used to decrypt incoming e-mail and to digitally sign outgoing e-mail.
The public key is a componentof a certificate and is needed for encryption of e-mail. The public key must be provided once to all communication partners. This is mostly done by simply sending a digitally signed e-mail. The public key also allows to verify a sender's digital signature.
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