As the traditional “paper-based” world gives way to digital documentation and transactions, enterprises are demanding innovative solutions for digitally signing and authenticating such documents, files, and forms with iron-clad protection against forgery. Solutions must guarantee non-repudiation and promise the same level of security and trust that exists with conventional documentation. At the same time, such a solution should be simple to use, easy to deploy and offer a rapid ROI.
10 Tips for Selecting the
Best Digital Signature
Solution
Avoid the Pitfalls when transitioning from
paper-based to electronic signatures
Sept 2007
1 ARX . 855 Folsom Street . San Francisco, CA www.arx.com . (925) 7980901 . sales@arx.com
Introduction As the traditional "paper-based" world gives way to digital documentation and transactions, enterprises are demanding innovative solutions for digitally signing and authenticating such documents, files, and forms with iron-clad protection against forgery. Solutions must guarantee non-repudiation and promise the same level of security and trust that exists with conventional documentation. At the same time, such a solution should be simple to use, easy to deploy and offer a rapid ROI. In addition, with global digital business now the norm, transactions and documents may need to be signed by many people in different parts of the world. Users should be able to sign documents directly from their desktop or via a zero technology footprint using any web browser. The need for verification by recipients outside an organization, the ability of employees to sign documents while traveling, and cross-platform capabilities - enabling the use of numerous applications, such as Microsoft Word®, Adobe Acrobat®, and TIFF images - all mean that, when it comes to selecting a digital signature solution, an enterprise needs to be aware of several important criteria. This White Paper outlines the 10 most critical scenarios to take into consideration when making this decision:
1. Seals Documents
The best digital signature solution seals the document using standard technology. Your company has chosen an electronic signature solution that ads an image of your Digital signatures take the graphical signatures to documents; you can now attach a graphic representation of your concept of traditional paper- signature to any document created in Microsoft Word. This is all well and good, until you based signing and turn it into discover that even though you have apparently signed the document, it can be easily 1an electronic "fingerprint" or changed by any recipient - while the electronic signature remains intact, just as you coded message. This is appended it. The door to fraud and forgery has been opened wide! unique to both the document The solution used has simply placed a digitized "picture" of the signature on the and the signer and binds both document: it doesn't seal the document, it doesn't verify the authenticity of the person of them together. The digital signing it, nor does it guarantee that the transaction cannot be altered. signature ensures the authenticity of the signer. Any In the traditional paper world, transactions are validated by signing them either on an changes made to the accepted form, such as a check, or in front of a trusted third party, a notary or lawyer, document after it is signed who then "stamps" the signatures so that they could not be changed. invalidate the signature, In the virtual paperless world, digital signatures must perform the same function, i.e. thereby protecting against guarantee that the signer is legitimate (that signatories are who they claim to be) and signature forgery and that neither the signature nor anything written in the document can be changed without information tampering. Digital authorization. signatures help organizations sustain signer authenticity, A digital signature must be able to seal any electronic document and guarantee that it is accountability, data integrity tamperproof. It is a one-time "fingerprint", unique to both the signer and the document and non-repudiation of and ensures that the signer is indeed the originator or owner of the document. This electronic documents and "fingerprint" cannot be reused or reassigned and proves that the message has not been forms. altered in any way. Should the document be changed or altered, the digital signature is For more information, automatically invalidated, providing total protection against forgery. please visit www.arx.com
1 An electronic signature simply captures a graphic image while a digital signature performs a cryptographic algorithm that appends a message digest or "fingerprint" to the document.
ARX . 855 Folsom Street . San Francisco, CA 2 www.arx.com . (925) 7980901 . sales@arx.com
... [download for more]
