Digital signature requirements

What is required to sign digitally?

The process to make digital signature requires four elements:

• A digital certificate
• A storage device for the certificates and their associated keys
• An application to generate digital signatures
• ... and finally, something to sign

Digital certificate

The electronic ID is the certificate we need. In addition to the electronic ID card there are some organizations called Certification Service Providers such as Firmaprofesional which may also issue electronic certificates. A list of Certification Service Providers can be found on the website of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade. If you need an electronic certificate and do not have the electronic ID card, contact Firmaprofesional or any other of the above certification providers to get your certificate.

Certificate storage device

The storage device for certificate and associated keys can be a hard drive (as has been usual with the certificates of the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre - National factory of Coins and Stamps - for income declaration), a chip card (as in the case of electronic ID cards) or a USB token similar to the memory cards we generally use. If the device is a chip card, it will need a card reader.

Application to create digital signatures

There are many types of applications to generate digital signatures. It can be a simple email client, web form, or a program for the PC, such as the PADRE program of the Inland Revenue, which allows us to submit statement of income. Also, custom applications can be built for your business. Isigma offers a wide range of applications pertaining to digital signatures, including Clicksign Pro, desktop software that allows signing documents with ease (we offer a free version, Clicksign, which allows you to sign PDF documents.

Something to sign

The content you want to sign is data in electronic form. It can be an email, a PDF file, a photograph, a web form, a banking transaction or any information in electronic format.