Digital Signatures in Microsoft Word

Digital Signatures in Microsoft Word

The purpose of a digital signature is the same as your handwritten signature.  Compared to a handwritten signature, it is considered significantly more difficult to forge a digital signature. A valid digital signatures assures the recipient of your document that:

  • Authentication – you are the sender of your document
  • Integrity – the document has not been altered since you signed it
  • Non-repudiation – you can’t deny the authenticity of the document

Digital Signatures are a great tool to keep your documents secure, and to keep your data electronic to avoid wasting paper.

 

There are different ways to approach adding a digital signature to a Microsoft Office document. Full Microsoft instructions can be found on the following websites:

Insert a signature

Add or remove a digital signature in Office files

Activation Required Prompts and Microsoft Software

iSchool owned Windows computers are set up to periodically check-in with a license server on campus to verify the activation of Windows (the operating system itself).

If your computer has been off campus for quite some time and your computer has not connected to the Husky OnNet VPN for quite some time (at least once every 180 days), you can expect to see a prompt or message telling you that you are required to activate Microsoft Windows or your license will expire soon.

If you see a message about needing to activate Windows, connect to the Husky OnNet VPN, then wait. You may continue working. Your computer will automatically “check in” with the on-campus license server, activate Microsoft Windows, the “activation required” message will disappear, and you can disconnect or exit the Husky OnNet VPN application.

More about how activating Microsoft products works at the UW, can be found on UW-IT’s website:

https://itconnect.uw.edu/wares/msinf/software/activating-microsoft-products/

Guidance for spam and phishing protections

Guidance for spam and phishing protections

UW-IT’s information about how to enable and maintain spam protections for UW Office 365 Exchange Online email accounts is on this web page:

https://itconnect.uw.edu/connect/productivity-platforms/microsoft-productivity-platform/exchange-online/email-protection-enhancements/early-adopter-access/#how_to

iSchool IT recommends following the steps in the “Enable” and “Maintain” sections of the web page linked above.

Even after configuring settings as recommended on the web page linked above, it is still possible for spam and phishing emails to make it to your inbox. When you do receive suspicious emails, follow the guidance in the “What you can do” section of this web page:

https://itconnect.uw.edu/connect/email/resources/protecting-your-email/