HP ProtectTools Security Software 2010 - Technical White Paper

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electronic transactions and communications is increasingly required by regula tions in fina nce, la w
and healthcare applications.
Privacy Manager is an HP ProtectTools plug-in, and can be accessed directly from within Microsoft
O ffice 2007 and Microsoft Live Messenger. O n first use, a wizard will guide you through the process
of obtaining a digital certificate. HP has partnered with C omodo, a leading issuer of digital
certificates, to provide HP Privacy Manager users w ith a ce rti fi ca te, va lid for twelve months, a t no
cost. The certificate will be issued and sent to the email address you provide, certifying you have
access to that email account. After this period ends, a subscription is required to renew the certificate.
For additional information, please visit https:/ / secure.comodo.com/ buydpcert/ .
N ext, you will be prompted to invite your friends, colleagues or clients to be a truste d conta c t. O nce
the invitation is sent, they will get an email from you which will direct them to download the Privacy
Manager software for free from DigitalPersona, an HP ProtectTools partner. They will then also be
able to obtain a certificate at no charge. You are now set up to securely communi ca te w i th e a ch
other:
• You can digitally sign emails and documents using passwords, fingerprints or smartcards. The
digital signature is proof tha t the content was created by you and has not been modified since
being signed.
• You can encrypt Microsoft O ffice documents, worksheets and email messages ensuring they ca n
only be viewed by your trusted co nta c ts.
• You can incorporate signature lines into your Microsoft O ffice documents and worksheets to
indicate your request for a digital signature by your recipients. This provides a simple method for
authorization workflow.
• You can verify the identity of a person before starting a conversation using W indow s Li ve
Messenger, so y ou c a n be c e rta i n tha t the person yo u inte nd to cha t w ith i s the o ne si tti ng a t the
other end.
• You can maintain privacy in your Live Messenger conversa tions. You can be certain that the only
person reading your messa ges is who you intend.
Privacy Manager at Work
Privacy Manager is designed to integrate seamlessly into Microsoft Office applications. Content
created in Microsoft Office can be digitally signed and encrypted, in order to ensure that only trusted
contacts can view the content, and to ensure that the document was not modified after being signed.
Privacy Manager has clear benefits for businesses of all sizes. In addition to basic certificates which
certify just an email address, Comodo can issue certificates which certify the real name and identity of
the user. W hen businesses purchase this service, Comodo will formally validate that the administrator
making the request has the authority to issue user certificates on behalf of the domain. This
administrator will be given access to a management console used to request certificates for any
employees. These certificates will now certify the user’s actual identity, such as their name, title and
email, so that their use can serve as a strong part of audit and compliance requirements.
Enterprises may also consider the deployment of a server to centrally manage policies and enable
users to easily use their certificates from any computer on the network. DigitalPersona, an HP
ProtectTools partner, offers a client/ server solution, DigitalPersona Pro, to better manage
authentication credentials and Privacy Manager on Active Directory-based networks.
Privacy Manager – Ch a t
Think about when using instant messaging to communicate. All messages are transferred in the clear
and go through remote servers. Files transferred using instant messaging also transfer in the clear
and go through remote servers. For this reason, many businesses disable instant messaging in their