In today’s technologically advanced world, documents and correspondences that were once sent by post are now exchanged electronically. This exchange takes place smoothly until a signature is required in the transaction. Then the entire process falls back to the real ‘e-less’ world of paper documents, faxes, snail-mail and even physical presence.
Technology, however, has not ceased to search for solutions to this barrier. The result: a method that is accurate and arguably more secure than the traditional handwritten signature, which allows documents to be signed online — e-signatures.
Implementation of this technology here comes as no surprise given the government’s enthusiasm for technology projects and the rapid move to digitize transactions as e-government services. In line with this trend, the government has finally implemented long delayed e-signature technology that is now online and ready for use.
E-signature technology allows senders of information to include their identity in the message they send. This information is given as part of a signature that is embedded into the message, attached to the file the sender is signing.
The file’s recipient is able to open the file, read its contents and know that the file was signed and authenticated by the sender. The recipient can identity the person signing, whether it is on behalf of the individual or organization, as well as check that the signature was valid at the time the document was signed.
The recipient is also able to verify that the content of the file has not been changed; nothing has been added, removed or deleted from the file.
“E-signature, or digital signature, is a concept that allows for using electronically signed documents to perform either exchange of documents officially in circles related to government, or with the private sector performing electronic commerce or electronic business at large,” says Sherif Hashim, vice president of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). “With this need emerging, technology stepped in to introduce technologies related to authenticated signatures on documents.”
The technology used in Egypt and many other countries for implementing digital signatures is Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). PKI is a secure method that utilizes encryption to allow two parties to communicate via electronic means without outsiders being able to access the information exchanged.
The parties involved are able to communicate privately using two keys. The first is called a private key, which the sender holds and is considered his signature. A private key is issued to a person or to an entity for use as their signature. According to Egyptian law number 15 of 2004, the private key is kept on a smart token that looks similar to a USB memory stick, except that it has processing power to protect the key from being read by other people. It is this smart token that is used by an individual to sign documents.
To do this the user plugs the token into their computer, like a USB stick, and then, using the PKI technology, they are able to sign the document by including their personal signature in a process that encrypts the document’s content.
The recipient can then decrypt the message using a public key that validates the identity of the person who actually signed the document. By being able to decrypt the message and open the message using the public key, the recipient can also validate that the message has not been tampered with or changed.
In Egypt, there will be three service providers certified by ITIDA to develop and sell smart tokens. Only one company is now fully operational and already providing e-signature services, Security and Network Services (SNS).
“Buying the technology doesn’t have to be through the service provider but can be through your company, bank or post office,” explains Hashim. ITIDA also acts as a certifying body for service providers.
According to Hashim, law number 15 states that for the e-signature to be considered as legally valid as a handwritten signature, certain requirements need to be in place. Among these is a requirement that service-providing companies need to register with and be certified by ITIDA. The law demands that certain technical requirements in regards to infrastructure also need to be in place to ensure security and to protect the privacy of clients.
As a result of the law, any document that has been electronically signed will be recognized in court as an official document. The law also recognizes e-writing, which is the exchange of electronic files (typically files that are not signed). These types of files can be admitted in court for legal purposes, but they would still be treated as unsigned documents.
But will the introduction of e-signatures have any impact on the lives of people in Egypt? “We should look first at what we call killer applications that would have a measurable impact on the users,” says Hashim, who offers up the Tansiq (a university application service) as an example.
Affecting 250,000 secondary school graduates each year, if the laborious process was done online, he says, it could save 250,000 families the hassle of having to travel, stand in lines and wait. “We want killer applications that significantly hit business processes and the stock market,” he says. “In the stock market, time is of the essence, so if purchase orders are done electronically it’s a done deal. The possibility of fraud or delays is significantly minimized if not eliminated completely. Soon enough, for example, people will be able to file their tax forms electronically using e-signature services,” continues Hashim.
“[E-signature] is a manifestation of how to use technology to improve the citizen’s quality of life, to help them do their work better, to help them deal with government, deal with each other and deal with banks. People would be able to do their business more efficiently, effectively, securely and protect their interest in an unmatched way. We can’t say it is equivalent to a hand-written signature. It is not equivalent. It is much better.”
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Osama Diab
Quelle/Source: Business Today Egypt, 09.11.2009
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