The department maintains its own certificate authority so that it can sign certficates that are used to encrypt web and email traffic. When you connect to one of these services, your browser or mail reader may issue a warning that the certificate cannot be verified because it comes from an unknown authority.

Your web browser or mail reader has the ability to import a certificate authority's identifying certificate so that it can be considered a trusted source of certificates. Instructions to do so are found below.

Click here for the UAB CIS Certificate Authority Certificate File.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Right-click the Certificate File link above and save the file to the name "cacert.cer" on your local PC.
2. Go to Tools, Options, Advanced, Security, View Certificates. Click the Authorities tab then click Import.
3. Browse to the cacert.cer file and open it.
4. View the certificate and verify it is the "UAB CIS Certificate Authority" certificate. Close the View panel.
5. Choose the "Trust this CA to identify web sites" checkbox and click OK.
6. You should now see the UAB CIS Certificate Authority in the list of trusted authorities.
7. Test your CIS SSL-enabled service again. You should no longer get SSL certificate warnings.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Right-click the Certificate File link above and save the file to the name "cacert.cer" on your local PC.
2. Go to Tools, Internet Options, Content and click on Certificates...
3. Choose the Trusted Root Certification Authorities tab.
4. Click Import. Click Next on the first page of the Import Wizard.
5. Browse to the cacert.cer file. You might need to select "Files of Type: All Files (*.*)" to see the cacert.cer file. Click Open.
6. Click Next in the Wizard and choose "Place all certificates in the following store: Trusted Root Certification Authorities". Click Next. Click Finish.
7. Answer Yes to the Security Warning. Say OK to the Success message.
8. You should now see the UAB CIS Certificate Authority in the list of trusted authorities.
9. Test your CIS SSL-enabled service again. You should no longer get SSL certificate warnings.

Mozilla Thunderbird

1. Right-click the Certificate File link above and save the file to the name "cacert.cer" on your local PC.
2. Go to Tools, Options, Advanced, Certificates and click Manage Certificates. Click the Authorities tab and then click Import.
3. Browse to the cacert.cer file and open it.
4. View the certificate and verify it is the "UAB CIS Certificate Authority" certificate. Close the View panel.
5. Choose the "Trust this CA to identify web sites" checkbox and click OK. (Yes, "web sites" is the right choice even for email servers.)
6. You should now see the UAB CIS Certificate Authority in the list of trusted authorities.
7. Test your CIS SSL-enabled service again. You should no longer get SSL certificate warnings.

Microsoft Outlook

1. Right-click the Certificate File link above and save the file to the name "cacert.cer" on your local PC.
2. Browse to the cacert.cer file and double-click it and click Install Certificate. This will open the certificate import wizard.
3. Accept all the defaults in the wizard and keep clicking next. You should get a success message.