Internet Explorer 5.0 supports client authentication and secure e-mail.

Client authentication is the term used to describe how you (the client) prove your identity to somone else or to a computer by using your Digital ID. For example, if you go to a Web site that requires a Digital ID, such as an online bank, your Web browser presents your Digital ID to the Web site as proof of your identity. The Web site then views information in your ID to determine what you have permission to do. For example, you get to view only your account information and not someone else's.

Secure e-mail lets you send signed and encrypted e-mail messages to people whose Digital IDs you have.

(Digital IDs used for client authentication are sometimes called client certificates by Web browsers.)