Companies from around the world and various industries are moving towards digital signing to comply with regulations, expedite business processes, and reduce operational costs.
By adopting secure electronic signing processes, companies are able to reduce waiting time, save money, provide copies to all parties, create archives, increase security through digital encryption, and meet compliance requirements.
Thales Solutions for Secure Digital Signing
In conjunction with leading partners, Thales solutions guarantee signer authenticity and the data integrity of electronic documents in a manner that is secure and easy to deploy and manage.
The combination of this solution enables the strongest utilization of digital signatures and provides the advantages of:
- Streamlined Business Processes
- Paperless Office
- Non-Repudiation
- High Assurance
- Compliance
Digital Signing with Hardware Security Modules (HSMs)
Protecting digital signatures from compromise requires mechanism to secure the cryptographic keys at the heart of the digital signatures themselves. If the cryptographic keys associated with the digital signatures are in any way compromised, the entire infrastructure will be compromised. For this reason, many organizations use hardware security modules (HSMs) to protect the private keys used for secure electronic signatures.
Digital Signing Use Cases
Thales Digital Signing solutions are often used to secure:
eIDAS Compliant Qualified Remote Digital Signatures
Remote digital signatures are a method of signing documents electronically from a distance, using a remote server or platform that manages the signing process. This allows users to sign documents without needing to be physically present at the location where the document is stored or processed. A key component of this process is remote signature activation, which involves generating or activating a digital signature using a cryptographic key that is securely managed or stored in a remote location. This enables users to create digital signatures without physically holding the private key needed for signing. To facilitate this process, remote signing applications utilize a Signature Application Module (SAM) to authorize the signature or operation and authenticate the user’s identity and HSMs, such as Luna HSMs from Thales, to protect the private keys associated with the digital signatures. All digital signing and verification operations are also performed within the Luna HSMs to increase performance and maintain a high level of security.
Luna HSMs are integrated with Signature Activation Modules (SAM) from industry-leading Thales Technology Partners to provide secure solutions that adhere to the remote signing requirements that are part of the eIDAS regulation for Qualified Trust Service Providers (QTSP). These SAMs can integrate with your own signing solution or function as part of the full signing suite from Ascertia and Nextsense, offering flexibility and seamless operation:
DNS Server Security
To ensure the validity of DNS services, DNSSEC employs public key cryptography to digitally sign DNS messages. Therefore, to realize the security required, robust protection of private signing keys is vital.
Smart Grid Security
Building a trusted smart grid requires robust security solutions that can be easily deployed at the communication and application layers of the smart grid infrastructure.
Code Signing Security
Today, many software marketplaces, including mobile app stores, require code to be compliant with specific digital signing requirements. In order to effectively secure private keys used in code signing, it is vital for organizations to leverage hardware security modules (HSMs).
Electronic Invoicing Security
Digital signatures, powered by encryption and public key infrastructure (PKI), represent the means for establishing trust in electronic invoices.
Document Signing with PKI Smart Cards and Tokens
As organizations move from paper toward digital business processes and initiatives, Thales PKI solutions are secure, portable, and simple-to-use solution that streamlines business processes and reduces the time and costs associated with traditional paper-based document signing. Thales users can digitally sign documents, files, forms, and transactions anywhere using SafeNet Certified based solutions as the Secure Signature Creation Device (SSCD) to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and seamlessly transition towards a paperless office environment. Thales also offers a virtualized version of hardware smart cards.
Benefits of Digital Signatures with Thales HSMs:
- Ensure integrity of documents
- Secure electronic tracking and storage
- Scale to accommodate high volumes of documents
- Enhance security and ensure compliance
- Reduce costs
- FIPS validated and Common Criteria Certified
- Listed as a European Union Qualified Electronic Signature Creation Device (QSCD)
- Integrated with Signature Activation Module (SAM) technology partners for eIDAS compliant remote digital signatures, seals and timestamps
Security is so important to our clients. We needed a solution that would provide the level of trust our customers were demanding. Thales solutions not only provided the security we were looking for but did so in a way that won’t hinder the development and expansion of our business. Our overall experience was very positive.
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