Chapter 15 Certificates
NWA50AX User’s Guide
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• Binary PKCS#12: This is a format for transferring public key and private key certificates.The private key
in a PKCS #12 file is within a password-encrypted envelope. The file’s password is not connected to
your certificate’s public or private passwords. Exporting a PKCS #12 file creates this and you must
provide it to decrypt the contents when you import the file into the Zyxel Device.
Note: Be careful not to convert a binary file to text during the transfer process. It is easy for this
to occur since many programs use text files by default.
15.1.3 Ve rifying a C e rtific a te
Before you import a trusted certificate into the Zyxel Device, you should verify that you have the correct
certificate. You can do this using the certificate’s fingerprint. A certificate’s fingerprint is a message
digest calculated using the MD5 or SHA1 algorithm. The following procedure describes how to check a
certificate’s fingerprint to verify that you have the actual certificate.
1 Browse to where you have the certificate saved on your computer.
2 Make sure that the certificate has a “.cer” or “.crt” file name extension.
3 Double-click the certificate’s icon to open the Ce rtific a te window. Click the De ta ils tab and scroll down
to the Thum b print Alg o rithm and Thum b print fields.
4 Use a secure method to verify that the certificate owner has the same information in the Thumb p rint
Alg o rithm and Thum b print fields. The secure method may vary based on your situation. Possible
examples would be over the telephone or through an HTTPS connection.