 |
Document IDs for BREW
|
FAQs
About Authentic Document IDs
System Requirements
Error Messages
About Authentic Document IDs
What is digital notarization?
Digital notarization is a timestamping service
that lets you prove the existence and state of an electronic document
at a fixed point in time by creating a digital receipt.
Back
to the top
What is a digital fingerprint
or hash file?
Often described as a digital fingerprint, a
hash is simply a "summary" generated from a digital document
using a mathematical rule or algorithm. It is designed so that a small
change in the document would produce a big change in the hash. Hashing
algorithms are "one-way": you can create a hash from a document,
but you cannot recreate the document from a hash. A hash is not an encryption
of the document. Most importantly, it's very difficult to find two documents
that have the same hash.
The Authentic Document Service uses hash files
because a small (but important) change in a document (like changing
US$100,000 to US$1,000,000) would produce a completely different hash.
Back
to the top
What is an Authentic Document
ID?
An Authentic Document ID is a Class 3 certificate
that allows you to perform digital notarizations, using VeriSign's Authentic
Document Service, for the purpose of authenticating documents. VeriSign
Authentic Document IDs are used to create and send a signed fingerprint
(hash) of the original document to VeriSign's Authentic Document Service
(the original document never leaves the requestor's personal computer).
Upon receipt, the Authentic Document Service verifies the validity of
the signature. After the signature is verified, the signed fingerprint
is digitally time-stamped to create a digital receipt, which is delivered
to the requestor's personal computer. The signed fingerprint submitted
by the requestor is also stored by VeriSign, and can be made accessible
to the appropriate parties at a later date for dispute resolution and
auditing purposes.
Back
to the top
How long is the Authentic Document
ID valid?
Authentic Document ID is valid for one year
from the date of ID issuance.
Back
to the top
My Authentic Document ID has
expired and I have unused digital notarizations. Can I use these when
I renew my ID?
No, your unused digital notarizations expire
with your ID. You will purchase new digital notarizations when you renew
your ID.
Back
to the top
What is an Authentic Document
Seal?
The Authentic Document Seal is an icon you
can attach to digitally notarized documents before you publish them
online. By simply clicking on the seal, readers can verify that the
document they are looking at is the same as the one you published and
has not been altered or tampered with since you digitally notarized
it.
Back
to the top
What is the Personal Trust
Agent (PTA)?
The VeriSign Personal Trust Agent (PTA) is
a software component that seamlessly downloads into the browser to give
the user an enhanced and user-friendly experience when using various
VeriSign trust services.
Back
to the top
What is a Digital Receipt?
A digital receipt is a block of data bound
together and signed by VeriSign's timestamping Certification Authority
(CS). It includes a fingerprint (hash) of the document file along with
the date and time derived from a trusted time source. A digital receipt
acts as evidence that a document existed at a particular point in time.
It forms the receipt returned to a requesting party to prove the transaction
occurred.
With VeriSign's Authentic Document Service,
VeriSign acts as witness, standing behind the assertion that the transaction
took place at a specific moment in time. Because each receipt is a persistent
data object, it can serve as non-repudiable proof of the document's
existence at the time of digital notarization, and of the organization
that digitally signed the document.
Back
to the top
Does VeriSign keep a record
of the digital notarization receipts?
Yes, VeriSign saves a copy of all digital notarization
receipts generated from our Authentic Document Service. However, VeriSign
does not store the original document. In fact, the original document
never leaves the requestor's personal computer.
Back
to the top
What does the Authentic Document
Service do?
VeriSign's Authentic Document Service digitally
notarizes a signed fingerprint of your document. By comparing the signed
fingerprint stored in the digital receipt with a fingerprint calculated
at a later date, VeriSign is able to verify whether or not your original
document has been changed.
Back
to the top
How do I install PTA (ActiveX
Control)?
The PTA and the ActiveX control are automatically
installed when you apply for an Authentic Document ID.
Back
to the top
What is the user profile created
by the PTA?
When you submit your application for an Authentic
Document ID, the PTA creates a user profile which is secured by a user
selected password. This password must be remembered as it is required
for use of the Digital ID for authenticating documents. The user profile
contains the user's private key as well as the Authentic Document ID.
Back
to the top
Why does the PTA require a
password?
The password on the PTA dialog is used to protect
your Authentic Document Profile. The profile stores your Authentic Document
ID and the private key that is bound to that ID. The profile is protected
with a password to ensure that only you can use that ID to request a
digital notarization. Without the password, you cannot access your Authentic
Document ID.
Back
to the top
Why is it recommended that
I backup my user profile (private and public keys)?
The PTA user profile stores both your private
key and your Authentic Document ID. For security reasons, VeriSign does
not store user profile passwords and as such cannot recover or reset
forgotten passwords. That means that if your user profile becomes corrupted
or lost for some reason, you will be completely unable to use your Authentic
Document ID and unable to access the Authentic Document Service. By
backing up your PTA profile, you protect yourself against these types
of situations. In fact, we recommend that the backup of the profile
be saved to an offline medium, such as a floppy disk, etc. and stored
in a separate, secure environment.
Back
to the top
What do I do if I forget my
password?
For security reasons, VeriSign does not store
PTA user profile passwords. VeriSign cannot recover or reset your forgotten
password. If you forget your password, you cannot use your Authentic
Document ID or access the Authentic Document Service. There are two
options for lost passwords:
- If you backed up
your PTA profile, you may import your backup of the Authentic Document
ID (you may have backed up your PTA profile during the enrollment process)
into the profile and lock it with a new password.
- If you did not back
up your profile, you can no longer use your Authentic Document ID. Call
VeriSign Customer Service to revoke or replace your Authentic Document
ID.
Back
to the top
Should the backup password
be the same as the PTA user profile password?
For security reasons, we recommend that your
backup password and your PTA user profile password be different. In
the event of your password being compromised, separate passwords would
provide additional protection. We recommend that the backup of the PTA
profile be saved to an offline medium, such as a floppy disk, etc. and
stored in a separate, secure environment.
Back
to the top
I enrolled for and installed
my Authentic Document ID on my computer. Can I move this Authentic Document
ID to a different computer?
Export your Authentic Document ID to a file,
transfer the file to the new computer, and import the ID into the new
computer. Go to the Authentic Document ID Preference Center at https://digitalid.verisign.com/services/notarization/prefmgmt.htm.
Click Export ID and follow the instructions. Transfer the exported file
to the new computer. On the new computer, go to the Authentic Document
ID Preference Center. Click Import ID and follow the instructions to
install the ID on the new computer.
Back
to the top
When would I need to de-install
the PTA?
Under normal operation it should not be necessary
to de-install the PTA. If a new version of the PTA is available, your
version will automatically be upgraded. However if the PTA on your machine
has been corrupted (you cannot use it to perform a digital notarization),
you may need to de-install the PTA then install it again.
Back
to the top
How do I de-install the PTA?
To de-install the PTA, do the following:
- Start
Internet Explorer.
- Under
the Tools menu, click on Internet Options.
- Choose
the General Tab and click on Temporary Internet Files: Settings.
- Click
on the "View Objects" button.
- Right
click on the VSPTA Class and choose the Remove option. If there is a
VSNZ Class, remove that as well.
Back
to the top
Can I use my Authentic Document
ID if the PTA has been de-installed?
No, you cannot use the Authentic Document ID,
without the PTA being installed on your machine. Although removing the
PTA does not result in removing the Authentic Document ID, you need
the PTA to be able to access the ID.
Back
to the top
How do I re-install the PTA?
To re-install the PTA you must navigate to
the Enrollment page where you applied for a Authentic Document ID. The
PTA is automatically installed on your machine during enrollment.
Back
to the top
How do I digitally notarize
a document?
The creation of a digital notarization request
requires that the requesting user be an authenticated user of VeriSign's
Authentic Document Services. Therefore, the first step in digitally
notarizing a document is to enroll for an Authentic Document ID.
To digitally notarize a document:
- Make
sure you have an active Web connection.
- Right
click the document you want to digitally notarize.
- Highlight
and left click Digitally Notarize in the context menu.
* The VeriSign Personal Trust Agent window will appear.
- Enter
your username and password, and click Next.
* Usernames and passwords are case specific.
- Choose
the Authentic Document ID with which you want to digitally notarize
your document, then click Select.
- Click
Done when the message "Authentic Document Service operation was
completed successfully" appears in the progress window.
Back
to the top
Where are my digital receipts
saved?
Digital receipts are saved to the same directory
as the document that was digitally notarized.
- Digital receipts
have the same filename as the original document with a ".rcpt"
extension. If the filename of the original document is report.doc, then
the filename of the receipt file is report.doc.rcpt.
Back
to the top
How do I verify my document?
When you verify your document, you are actually
verifying that your document has not been altered and that your receipt
is still valid.
- Locate
the digital receipt for the document you want to verify.
* Your document must be in the same directory it was in when the
digital receipt was created.
- Open
(double click) the digital receipt you want to verify.
- If the
fingerprints match, the digital receipt is still valid for your document.
You (or readers of the documents you publish
online) can also simply click on the Authentic Document Seal.
Back
to the top
System Requirements
System requirements for the
VeriSign Personal Trust Agent
Hardware: |
486/25 MHz system or better |
Software: |
Win 95, 98, ME, NT, or 2000* |
Browser: |
Microsoft IE 4.0-6.0
NOTE: Windows 2000 users must be logged in
as an administrator/power user. |
Macintosh: |
The VeriSign Personal Trust Agent and Authentic
Document IDs are not currently compatible with the Macintosh operating
system. |
Back
to the top
Error Messages
The Authentic Document Service
server is not available.
Either the Authentic Document Service server
is temporarily down, or you have run out of Authentic Document Service
credits. (Each Authentic Document ID comes with "credits"
that entitle you to digitally notarize 250, 500, or 1,000 documents.)
Verify that you have Authentic Document Service
credits available and attempt to digitally notarize your document again
at a later time. If you are out of Authentic Document Service credits,
send an e-mail to VeriSign
Customer Service.
Back
to the top
The file "*.rcpt"
already exists.
A valid digital receipt already exists for
the selected document.
If the document has been changed since the
last Authentic Document Service receipt was created,
- Rename your document,
rename the digital receipt, or delete the digital receipt.
- Attempt to digitally
notarize your document again.
* Digital receipts have the same filename as the document they digitally
notarize with a ".rcpt" extension.
Back
to the top
Error sending the request to
the Authentic Document Service server
The Personal Trust Agent was unable to connect
to the network for one of two reasons:
- You don't have an
active Web connection.
- Confirm
that you have an active Web connection.
- Attempt
to digitally notarize your document again.
- Work Offline has
been selected in Explorer's File menu.
- Launch
Microsoft Internet Explorer.
- Select
File > Work Offline, then attempt to digitally notarize your document
again.
Back
to the top
Reopening my document causes
my receipt to become invalid.
Some applications change the content structure
of a file even if the user just opens and closes the file. Since the
Personal Trust Agent's ActiveX conrol creates a fingerprint of the current
document to compare with the fingerprint stored in the digital receipt,
even a change as small as a single character or extra space will invalidate
the digital recipt. This behavior is most common with Microsoft Word,
Excel, and PowerPoint. If the document is not going to be edited, we
recommend opening your document in read-only mode
Back
to the top
|
Worldwide Sites
