Certum Document Signing – a new e-signature offered by Asseco

The range of electronic signatures offered by Asseco has been enriched with a new product – Certum Document Signing. It is an advanced certificate compliant with the legal regulations and requirements of Adobe, enabling the creation of a trusted signature on an online document.

Certum’s offer for individuals, businesses and partners has been enriched with a new certificate, Certum Document Signing.

Certum Document Signing is an advanced electronic signature compliant with legal regulations and requirements of Adobe, making it possible to create a trusted signature on an online document with the highest level of certainty of the signatory’s identity.

The advanced electronic signature is one of the three types of signature specified in the eIDAS Regulation, which guarantees high trust in the signature made on a document, as well as its legality under the law. This means that the advanced signature meets, among others, the following conditions:

60 seconds for verification

Obtaining a trusted certificate requires verification that unambiguously confirms the owner’s identity and proves his/her presence when requesting the certificate. Certum, in cooperation with Ariadnext, has implemented a remote and fully automated identity confirmation mechanism that takes approximately 60 seconds. As a result, there is no need to confirm one’s identity in person or request its confirmation by a notary public. Verification can be done anywhere and anytime using a device with access to a camera and the Internet.

Virtual card

According to Adobe regulations, for a certificate to be trusted, the certificate keys must be stored on a secure cryptographic device. Typically, this role is played by a physical card compatible with the certificate. This means the need to purchase a device, which is necessary for the activation process and later when signing documents. Certum Document Signing uses a proprietary, cloud-based mechanism to store keys on a virtual card in the SimplySign system. Both generation of keys and creation of an account in the system is performed automatically, so the issuing process is quick and easy. Moreover, thanks to the virtual card, e-signature can be placed not only from a computer or laptop, but also on mobile devices, allowing documents to be signed anywhere and anytime. The certificate is not limited by the number of signatures, so you can use it for 3 years, which is the entire validity period.

A credible and integral document

The recipient of a document signed with Certum Document Signing certificate can verify the identity of the signatory with a single click, including the signatory’s first and last name and, in the case of organizations, also the company name. An e-signature protects its content from potential modification and ensures its integrity. This is possible because during the signing process, which usually takes less than a second, a unique fingerprint, called a hash, is created on the document. The cryptographic algorithm integrates the signature, hash, and the document into a single, unique form. This way, any change to the signed document will make it lose its value and the hash will change. In such a document, the signature will not be verified correctly and the recipient will receive the information that it is invalid. This protects the document from post-signature modification that could legally result in, for example, a change in the terms of the contract.

Safer than on paper

Printed documents are susceptible to signature forgery as well as manipulation with the date and time of placing the signature, which in many situations can disadvantage contractors entering into a contract. Moreover, they bear the risk of being modified after they have already been approved. An electronic certificate minimizes the risk of forging a signature or falsifying the contents of a document. Certum rigorously verifies the owner’s identity before issuing it, eliminating the risk of issuing the certificate with false data. In addition, only the owner has access to the e-signature and the process is performed with proper authentication, which eliminates the risk of forgery almost to zero. Certum Document Signing is compliant with European legal standards, which means it is recommended for use in business applications such as for concluding contracts and performing financial transactions.

10,000 documents per year

Such a number of documents can be accessed by an average Polish office worker*. Some of them must be signed by him/her. Printing, scanning, or mailing takes a lot of time and incurs costs, such as purchasing paper, printer toner, servicing scanning equipment, shipping fees, and document disposal. Signing documents digitally allows for significant savings in this area and is the first step towards implementing a paperless strategy in the company.

Anna Sikorska, Product Manager at the Security and Trust Services Division at Asseco Data Systems.

* Varonis, 2021 Data Risk Report, https://info.varonis.com/hubfs/docs/research_reports/2021-Financial-Data-Risk-Report.pdf