This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) from European Patent Application EP22383030.8 filed 25 Oct. 2022, which is pending and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
The invention is directed to the field of communications and more precisely to computer assisted verification processes.
The object of the invention allows to verify electronic signatures comprised in electronic documents, such as certificates, in a fast and secure manner.
Today the use of electronic signatures has become dizzyingly widespread, in part thanks to the covid epidemic that the entire humanity has suffered and has also been implemented throughout the world.
This implementation is generating a new problem, which is the subsequent verification of these electronic signatures, since nowadays so much trust is being placed in the electronic signature that simply its visualization already confirms that signature and unfortunately it is not like that.
A contract or a document may be signed by a signature of a person or company that is different from the one stated in the contract, the signature may be expired at the time of signing or the signature was revoked when it was signed, generating invalidity of the contract, notice or document presented.
Known processes are practically manual and industrial and simple methods are needed for verification and that in turn can be proven in court or in a regulator or simply before the citizen that the document is not valid, or the signer does not correspond with what is stated in the document signed electronically.
The invention object of this application provides a solution to the disadvantages by automating the entire process, generating proof of the verification date, of the document to be verified, of the verification summary in the sense of the validity or not of the signatures of the document and the specific verification process by a signature provider qualified in the verification of electronic signatures; packaging everything in a file signed electronically and with a time stamp.
One aspect of the object of the invention is aimed at a method so that a telecommunications operator or an electronic communications provider (e-delivery provider) may verify and certify the electronic signature or signatures of electronic files received, such as electronic certificates, electronic contracts, or electronic notifications. These electronic signatures to be verified may be from any signature provider, generating proof of the entire transaction of the operation to, finally, generate an evidence document of the entire transaction.
In a second aspect of the invention the object of the invention encompasses a platform that is implemented by a telecommunications operator using a series of interconnected servers, so electronically signed files may have the signatures verified and or certified. In this way, the platform can present a configuration such that it implements:
Mailcert database server to deposit the files to be checked
It should be noted that since the platform is linked to a telecommunications operator (or communications throughout this document), and preferably implemented in it, it allows certification tasks to be carried out without the need for network entities external to the operator. Communications.
The foregoing and other advantages and features will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, which should be considered by way of illustration and not limitation, in which:
In a preferred embodiment of one aspect of the invention a system for verifying electronic signatures in signed electronic documents, hereinafter electronic documents, sent by an issuing entity, preferably an electronic device with communication capabilities, computer, or smartphone. is provided. Said platform comprises interconnected in a communications operator:
In a preferred embodiment of a second aspect of the invention, depicted in
The Mailcert server will collect outputs from the Qval server for all the possible verifications of the signature(s) presented to compose an optional summary of the signature verification to make reading faster and more user friendly for the non-technical user.
Finally, the Mailcert server composes an electronic file, such a PDF file, in which it is certified that the electronic document file has been received from the user on such a day and time that contained one or more electronically signed files to be verified, that the verification of the file or file has had as a result that the electronic signatures contained in the file are valid or not and the number of signatures contained in the file, attaching to the electronic file:
The electronic file generated may be PDF file which is then electronically signed with the communications operator digital signature and a time stamp may be added. The result is a signed and non-tampering file containing all the evidence and content of any actions carried out at the communications operator, the summary of the result of the verification and the complete verification.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention the signed electronic document may be compared to an original electronic document, said original electronic document lacking signatures so electronic signatures may be identified and extracted, in this case both the original and the signed electronic document will be included in the electronic file before the latter is digitally signed by the communications operator and the optional timestamp is applied.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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22383030.8 | Oct 2022 | EP | regional |