Digitally-Signed Documents

M+P Labs uses digital signatures to provide a high level of security for distribution of electronic documents, both internally and for certain client communications, including final reports. Digital signatures provide a verifiable means to ensure the integrity of the document. The application of digital signatures by employees of M+P Labs is controlled under a QA procedure.

Digital Certificates

The digital certificate that accompanies each signature is issued from M+P Labs’ “Root Certificate Authority” (Root CA) on our server.  In order to validate signatures on a document issued by M+P Labs, you will need to install our Root Certificate in the certificate directory on your computer.  By doing so, you will “trust” M+P Labs’ Root CA, and therefore be able to validate signatures on documents issued by us. To install M+P Labs’ Root Certificate, follow the instructions below.

Download M+P Labs Root Certificate

Installation Instructions:

  1. Download the certificate by clicking on the link above
  2. Double click the file “M_and_PLabs_Root_Certificate.zip” and select Extract All…
  3. Select a location for the extracted files (i.e. Desktop) and click Extract
  4. Using My Computer, navigate to where the file was extracted to in step 2
  5. Double click the file “The M+P Lab Root Certificate.cer”
  6. Click the Install Certificate ... button
  7. Click Next >
  8. Click the Place All Certificates in the Following Store radio button and click Browse
  9. Select Trusted Root Certification Authorities from the list and click OK
  10. Click Next >
  11. Click Finish
  12. Click OK when prompted that the import was successful
  13. Click OK to close the certificate file

Validating Signatures on Digitally-Signed Documents

Once M+P Labs’ Root Certificate has been installed on your PC, the signatures on a digitally-signed document from M+P Labs may be verified. Click on the following link for instructions on how to validate signatures in Adobe Acrobat 6 and 8, and MS Word, and follow the instructions depending on the type of document you wish to verify.
Client Instructions for Word, Adobe 6, 8, and 9