Public and private key pairs are used to encrypt and decrypt the digital signature. Information encrypted by one key in the pair can only be decrypted using the other key in the pair, thereby authenticating the sender’s identity. The Bid Express® service uses keys in order to keep bids private until the bid opening.
Any letting created with a particular key must have access to that key to decrypt the bids. It is important that you back up your key so it can be imported to another computer in case something happens.
Once the key is generated, upload the public part to the software used to create proposal .ebsx files (see that software's help for how to complete this action). When bids are submitted, the private part is used to decrypt the bid.
Click the admin button.
Select Manage Agency Keys from the AASHTOWare Project Bids section of the Manage Agency page.
Click Create AASHTOWare Project Bids Agency Key.
Enter a name for the key in the Name field.
Enter your location and select your state and country.
Click generate. The Bid Express service opens the Bid Express KeyLab.
Enter a password for the key in the Password field. DO NOT FORGET THIS PASSWORD. The Bid Express service has no way to recover or replace this password. You will not be able to open any bids created with the agency key if you do not have the password.
Enter the password again in the Confirm Password field.
Click generate.
Click ok to start the backup to the key file. Navigate to the location of where you want to save the key. Make sure you keep the .cer extension at the end of the file name. Click save.
Click finish to close the KeyLab and return to the Manage Agency Keys page.