Easy electronic signatures with eIDAS

The eIDAS regulation (EU) No.910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market was adopted 2014 by the European Parliament and takes effect on 1 July 2016. The purpose of the regulation is to simplify electronic signatures, seals and other authentications EU-wide and to lay the groundwork for cross-national digital authentications.

The regulation defines:

Electronic Signatures: the digital equivalent of a written signature, legally binding

Electronic Seal: for legal persons, guarantees the origin and integrity of a document

Time stamping: proves that the document existed at a specific time and date and was not changed since then

Electronic registered delivery: similar to the registered mail in the real world

Legal admissibility of electronic documents:  ensures the authenticity and integrity of digital documents

Website authentication: certification of websites to verify their authenticity and source

For more information: Full Text of Regulation (EU) No.910/2014

The electronic signature is especially important in this context. The new eIDAS regulation differentiates between the advanced electronic signature and the qualified electronic signature.

The advanced electronic signature allows the distinct identification of the signer by using a certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA). The certificate is obtained by the signer and cryptographically bound to the document during the signature process. Under the new regulation this can be realized with mobile devices as well.

The qualified electronic signature is the legal equivalent to the written signature and it’s legal validity is recognized by all EU member states.  It is based on qualified certificates issued by Certificate Authorities, which are accredited and supervised by authorities. The certificates can be stored on hardware token as smart cards or USB token. Also, Cloud Trust Center may be used to access the certificates.

eIDAS offers numerous advantages for our digital life

 

  • More comfort and usability for private users now being able to digitally sign without having to use card reader and hardware token.
  • Increase in security for electronic communications since the use of electronic signatures is more readily available.
  • The possibility to sign PDFs and other digital documents simply by using mobile devices
  • The improved possibility to use qualified electronic signatures in numerous web based workflows. Examples include acceptance of tender, building private archives, and unlimited other options.
  • The initial cost barrier for smart cards, card reader and other hardware is removed.
  • eSignatures and eSeals are separated, giving companies the opportunity to authenticate documents without requiring a dedicated signer.
  • EU-wide consistent standards and rules to simplify transactions, authentications and business deals. The improvements are illustrated in this infographic:

eidasinfographic

The new eIDAS regulation and SecCommerce

SecCommerce has been offering eSignature and eFiles Solution for over 17 years. We are providing our customers with all components needed to build their own eSignature services. This includes the signature server, the identity server (providing the different two-factor authentication methods) and the portal for safe file exchange and encrypted messages with automatic signature for all files and messages.

The new regulations for eSignatures simplify the process of qualified signatures considerably. While they are still interesting for companies and corporate clients, private customers do no longer need smart cards and card reader to perform legally binding electronic signatures.

To guarantee secure eSignatures we also offer our strong two-factor authentication for all signature processes. The powerful PKI Server and Challenge Response Authentication ensure unprecedented security. More information about our strong touch two-factor authentication can be found here.