XAdES

XAdES ( X ML ad vanced E lectronic S ignatures ) is a set of extensions to the W3C recommendation XML DSig , through the use of advanced electronic signatures is made possible.

description

While XML-DSig is a general framework for the digital signature of XML documents, XAdES specifies precise profiles for XML-DSig for use with authorized electronic signatures in the meaning of the EU Directive 1999/93 / EC. An important factor of XAdES is that electronically signed documents remain valid for a long time, even if the underlying cryptographic algorithms have been cracked.

Profiles

XAdES defines six profiles ( forms ) that differ in the protection factor offered. Each profile contains and extends the previous one:

• XAdES , basic form that only fulfills the legal requirements for the extended signature specified in the directive;
• XAdES-T (timestamp), timestamp added to protect against denial
• XAdES-C (complete), references to verification data (certificates and recall lists) have been added to the signed documents to provide offline verification and future verification (however, the current data is not saved);
• XAdES-X (extended), the references that were introduced with XAdES-C have time stamps added to protect against possible changes to the certificates in the future;
• XAdES-XL (extended long-term), current certificates and recall lists have been added to the signed documents to allow future verification, even if the original source of the verification data is not available;
• XAdES-A (archival), possibility of regular time stamps (e.g. once a year) of the archived document in order to prevent changes caused by the signature that has become weaker during long-term storage.

See also

• European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
• XML Signature
• CAdES
• PAdES

Web links

• W3C XAdES version 1.1.1 from 2003
• ETSI TS 101 903 XAdES Version 1.2.2 from 2004
• ETSI TS 101 903 XAdES Version 1.3.2 from March 2006
• GlobalTrustFinder - Demo XAdES-T (powered by ADSS)