Remote Signing

What is Remote Signing and Does emSigner supports Remote Signing?

emSigner supports remote signing of documents where cryptographic keys are generated in an HSM on the server or through the storage of certificates on Virtual smart cards. This methodology of signing is used in India, Europe, Australia, and Malaysia. Out of the box, emSigner supports eSign versions 2.2 and 3.2 in India.

The Remote Signing Solution allows organizations to sign documents remotely. This application replaces the manual signing process with a secure way of electronic signing from anywhere in the world. This application facilitates a cloud-based signing solution and allows users to sign documents digitally without physical presence. This will speed up the process and increase productivity.

The organization needs to apply for a class 3 organization document signer certificate first, and using the certificate, they can sign any number of documents using restful APIs. To perform this signing process, the client needs to integrate the emSigner API online into their application.

Prerequisites

There are two different approaches to signing, passing a hash, or a document in requests.

For a document-based approach, the client application should be capable of applying the hashing algorithm and base64 encoding/decoding.

For a hash-based approach, the client Application should be capable of generating the SHA256 hash of the respective document for Signing. emSigner also provides a signing library in .Net (framework 4.6 and .Net core) and Java (1.8). For other platforms, a Java command line-based integration kit can be used.

Solution Architecture

Issued on Crypto-token

A number of Certifying Authorities issue digital certificates on FIPS 140-2 Level 2+ certified devices or Crypto tokens in line with Adobe Technical Requirements for secure storage of end user keys. emSigner supports the use of digital certificates issued in crypto tokens through the use of a client-side utility that gets invoked at the time of signing.

Qualified Signatures (eIDAS compliant)

emSigner supports the use of Qualified Signatures that are eIDAS compliant and issued by any Trust Service Provider that is accredited under relevant local regulation in the EU.

Smart Card Based Signing

emSigner allows users to sign using certificates stored on smart cards, which can be read through smart readers.

Bulk Automated Signing: For on-premise installations, emSigner can also be configured to retrieve digital certificates stored in Hardware Security Modules to sign documents based on remote signing or sign documents in bulk through the use of document signer certificates.