Since the promulgation and implementation of the Electronic Signature Law in 2005, it has been widely used in many fields. Online banking, physical banking, e-government, signing of electronic contracts, telecommunications, banking and other places. Especially with the development of the Internet, electronic signatures are more widely used.
The definition of electronic signature in the Electronic Signature Law of the People's Republic of China is: "The data contained in the data message in electronic form and attached to it is used to identify the signer and indicate that the signer approves the content therein. Realize the function of traditional paper signature or seal through technical means to confirm the true identity of the parties to the transaction and ensure the security, authenticity and non repudiation of the transaction. "
In other words, electronic signature is the electronic signature of electronic documents through cryptographic technology, not the digital visualization of written signatures. In fact, it is an electronic code. With it, the recipient can easily verify the identity and signature of the sender on the Internet, and can also verify whether the original text of the document has changed during transmission. Like electronic signature and seal, electronic seal is a form of electronic signature.
Technical principle of electronic signature: asymmetric encryption technology ensures that the encryption process is irreversible and the information cannot be cracked
The electronic signature technology involves the encryption and tamper proof of the file content and the authentication of the identity of the signatory. The asymmetric encryption technology is mainly used, and the one-way irreversibility of the hash algorithm is used to verify by comparing the hash values. The core technical principle is to use public key and private key for encryption and decryption. The applications of the two are different in different scenarios: in the signature authentication phase, in order to ensure that the signer is a specific object and has not been forged by others, the private key is used to encrypt the signature, and any other party holding the public key can judge the identity of the signer as the private key holder. In the content verification phase, in order to ensure the privacy of the contract content, only the receiver can read it, so the form of public key encryption and private key decryption is used to ensure data security.
Electronic Signature
Electronic signature is a form of expression of electronic signature. Image processing technology is used to transform the operation of electronic signature into the same visual effect as the operation of sealing paper documents. At the same time, electronic signature technology is used to ensure the authenticity and integrity of electronic information and the undeniability of the signer.
In other words, electronic signature is a visual representation of electronic signature. It not only retains the visual effect of traditional physical seal, but also has electronic signature technology, which is used to identify the identity of electronic document signers and ensure the integrity of documents. Therefore, in addition to the signature or seal on the surface, the real effective part of the electronic signature is actually the hidden part of the electronic signature.
Electronic seal
The electronic seal is the effective form of electronic signature. The electronic seal technology simulates the traditional physical seal with advanced digital technology. Its management and use methods conform to the habits and experience of physical seals. The electronic documents stamped on it have the same appearance, same validity and similar use methods as the paper documents stamped on the physical seal.
One physical seal can only correspond to one electronic seal, and the electronic seal and management system can only be made after authoritative authorization. At present, electronic seal has been widely used in many fields, such as electronic invoice and online settlement that we contact daily.
Electronic seal has legal effect
Many people think that electronic seal is the image processing of physical seal, which is a serious mistake. Only electronic seal graphics have no legal effect, and must meet certain conditions to have legal effect. That is to refer to the company's official seal law and meet the electronic signature law, and also meet the legal requirements for the form and preservation conditions of the original electronic contract. Therefore, the effectiveness of electronic official seal needs to be recognized according to the provisions of the above laws on the form of official seal, so as to ensure the effective legal effectiveness.
Technology and Problems of Electronic Seal
The electronic seal does not involve new concepts such as certificate and CA in the whole use process, but completely hides the electronic signature technology behind the electronic seal to ensure the authenticity and tamper resistance of the electronic seal in the use process. At the same time, digital paper technology is used to ensure the consistency, tamper proof and indivisibility of the layout after electronic seal is affixed, no matter how complex the layout is. For example, Word, the powerful king of office, still can't guarantee this. Sometimes we send someone a 100 page Word document, which turns into 101 pages when they receive it. Although the content has not changed, the position of text, graphics and other typesetting has changed. The tamper proof performance guarantees that the stamped document will not be tampered, so that the content and form of the stamped document are not allowed to change. The indivisibility is more secure to ensure that no one can separate the seal and document from the sealed document to steal the day.
In fact, since the Electronic Signature Law gives legal effect to the electronic seal, the secure electronic seal will gradually replace the traditional seal, replacing paper documents with electronic documents. However, the integrity and non repudiation of files must be truly solved in the process of use. That is to say, electronic documents with an electronic seal should be as complete as paper documents, that is, tamper proof and non repudiation, and can also verify the authenticity and traceability of documents. For example, when there are multiple electronic signatures on the same document, it is necessary to ensure the integrity, tamper proof and traceability of the document part included in each signature, and ensure the consistency of the layout.
Now the electronic seal still faces a problem, that is, there are too many carriers. Such as USB-KEY, IC card, fingerprint analyzer, or other forms of storage media. In addition, when using the electronic seal to seal, it is also necessary to download or log in to the terminal systems of different carriers. The process is cumbersome and complex. At the same time, it is also faced with the risk of carrier loss (equivalent to the loss of the electronic seal). It also needs to report the loss, which will delay the experience of using the seal and work efficiency.
In particular, with the development of the Internet and the demand for e-government, the application of electronic seals has become an important tool for "online signing" and "remote signing" in various signing scenarios such as current government work and enterprise office work. But at the same time, electronic seals are also faced with problems such as non standardization, non mutual signing and mutual recognition, and non interconnection. Since the pace of reform of "Internet+government service" and "decentralization, regulation and service" has accelerated, the application of electronic seal in the field of government service has become more and more extensive and standardized. As a key link of e-government, electronic signature has been incorporated into the construction of digital government.
Electronic seal for blockchain technology application
As a new type of electronic seal technology, the blockchain physical and electrical homologous electronic seal uses the blockchain certificate storage technology to give full play to the decentralized, tamper proof and other characteristics of the blockchain technology, so as to achieve the legal effect of the whole process of contract documents on the chain, identity authentication, process traceability, and result certificate storage. At the same time, the same source point, same specification and same standard are realized by the material and electricity homology technology in line with the national standards, so as to solve the problem of correlation and consistency between electronic seals and physical seals. It not only meets the security requirements of electronic seals such as "online" and "remote" signing, anti-counterfeiting traceability, and intelligent management, but also realizes the national mutual recognition requirements of electronic seals across provinces, regions, and departments.
With the acceleration of digital construction, various applications of electronic seals have become inevitable. Based on the technical basis of electronic signatures and the technical characteristics of blockchain, blockchain electronic seals will provide standardized, standardized, compatible and mutually recognized electronic seal services and platforms for governments and enterprises according to policy needs and market applications.
