Renewing Digital ID's

I have created a digital ID in Adobe Acrobat Professional 9.0.0. Under the "Security Settings" dialog my digital ID shows an expiry date 5 years from the time I created it. I'm assuming this means that the certifications and signatures in the documents I certify and sign will become invalid after this date. However, I want the documents to remain valid forever unless they are tampered with. So how would I renew the digital ID expiry such that all my documents still verify when users open them?

Any advice appreciated.

Regards,

David,
Canberra, Australia.

David,

Your digital id will be valid for things previously signed. When expired
you cannot sign new documents with it.

Mike

Mike is correct. When a signature is validated, the person validating it (usually by just opening the file) has the option to ask if the signature is valid "at the time the document was signed" or "at the current time". What this really means is whether the certificate used to sign it was valid at signing time or current time. If they ask about current time, and the certificate is expired at the current time, then the answer will be that the signature has a problem. If they ask about the signing time, then all is well and the signature should be valid.

If the certificate used to sign is not a self-sign certificate, there are more variables. The certificate could be revoked by the issuer (eg, the certificate was issued by your company and you no longer work there), but the same idea applies - if the certificate was known to be good at the time of signing, then the signature is considered valid.

Thanks Mike & Philip, that clears things up.

Cheers,

David.