Creating new public keys

Your public key is in your certificate which is stored in your User ID and in the IBM Lotus® Domino® Directory, and it is used to encrypt data that is being sent to you. If a person has your User ID, the private key in your User ID can decrypt your encrypted data. Getting new public keys can protect the data that should be read by only you. Once you have new public keys, data encrypted with your old keys may still be vulnerable to being read by the person who stole your User ID. However, any new data encrypted for you will not be readable by anyone but you.

Your key is also used to create a digital signature when you sign mail or other items in Notes. If your User ID is stolen you should get a new key so that Notes can generate an updated digital signature for you. Then when you sign a message, others can verify your signature using your new public key which will prove that the message is from you and is not from the person who stole your User ID.

When you request new public keys, Notes generates new public and private keys for you and sends the public key information in the mail message you send to your administrator. Your administrator then creates new certificates for you containing new public keys. (The new certificates each contain a new public key and a new expiration date. Everything else stays the same, such as your User name.) Your administrator sends the certificates containing the new public keys back to you so you can merge them into your User ID.