Electronic document management and electronic digital signature: application in business. What is an electronic signature - in simple language for beginners in the world of the digital economy. What is the advantage of an electronic signature?

Definition from Wikipedia:

Electronic digital signature(EDS), Digital signature(CP) - details of an electronic document obtained as a result of cryptographic transformation of information using a private signature key and allowing to verify the absence of distortion of information in the electronic document from the moment the signature is formed (integrity), whether the signature belongs to the owner of the signature key certificate (authorship), and in case of successful verification confirm the fact of signing an electronic document (non-repudiation)

Advantages of digital signature

1. You can submit any reports to the Federal Tax Service using a computer - this saves time (trips to the post office or tax office), money (envelopes, paper, toner, salary and transport for the accountant while traveling) and nerves (reports with digital signature are accepted automatically)
2. The digital signature belongs to the enterprise, even if it is stored on the registrar’s server, but is used by it remote accountant in another city. You can transfer it at any time without any expenses to another authorized person or outsourcing company
3. An electronic signature is used to organize internal and external document flow. There is no need to request closing documents from counterparties, or load the mail with signed invoices - everything is transmitted via the Internet in encrypted form and eliminates the forgery of signatures, seals and other details.
4. The cost of obtaining and maintaining an electronic digital signature is negligible compared to the savings of all resources. We will obtain an electronic digital signature for your company for 2,500 rubles. Production of a cryptographic key on a physical medium (“flash drive”) - 700 rubles.
5. By submitting reports certified by digital signature, you are always aware of all the requirements of the Federal Tax Service. We will send all documents and requests received to your address to the email address you provided.

Mandatory use of digital signature

From May 1, 2015, enterprises in Moscow and the Moscow region can submit VAT reports only via the Internet, signing the declarations with an electronic digital signature. Other regions do not have such restrictions. Enterprises can choose the method of signing documents - through an authorized accounting department by proxy or using the same digital signature.

However, the tax authorities, fighting cash withdrawal and increasing tax collection, began to refuse to accept reports by proxy under various pretexts. This is usually expressed by calling the “living” director to the inspection or asking to bring the original power of attorney. It is worth noting that these requirements are not entirely legal. But arguing about this is long and expensive. We recommend that you immediately obtain an electronic digital signature and forget about the minor tricks of the tax authorities.

How to obtain an EDS?

To obtain an electronic signature, we first need only the TIN of the enterprise or individual entrepreneur. Using it, we will take an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRIP) and prepare the necessary documents:

1. Power of attorney to generate digital signature on secure media
2. Power of attorney to receive digital signature by an authorized person
3. Application for key production

We will send the documents to your email.

Only 5 steps left:

1. Check that the basic details are correct. Print the documents, sign them, stamp them and scan them.
2. Make copies of the director’s documents: passport first page and SNILS (for individual entrepreneurs you also need a page with registration), certify with the company’s seal and signature (Don't miss anything: "The copy is correct" CEO, signature, full name, date), scan them too.
3. Send us scans (certified copies of your passport, SNILS and 4 signed documents) by email.
4. We will check the correctness of filling out the documents and send a courier to you for the originals: please indicate the address and time when it is convenient to deliver the original documents (2 powers of attorney, application - originals) and certified photocopies with a blue seal (passport and SNILS of the director).
5. The cost of producing and obtaining an electronic signature from the registrar is a total of 3,200 rubles.

As soon as we receive the originals (usually 1-2 days), we will be able to submit any reports to the Federal Tax Service for you in 5 minutes.

Can I use the digital signature myself or only through an authorized accounting department?

This is probably the only limitation that requires additional costs. The fact is that to use the digital signature you need access to Personal Area. The cost of access is 9,000 rubles per year. In the case where you have provided an electronic digital signature to an outsourced accountant, you do not need to purchase such access. We already have corporate access, to which we will connect your signature.

It's important to remember that you You can revoke your signature at any time from an accountant (outsourcing company) and transfer it to another person or pay for access to your personal account and use the digital signature yourself.

Modern business can no longer be imagined without tools such as electronic document management and electronic digital signature. This method has a lot of advantages and greatly facilitates the management of all processes in the organization. Modern entrepreneurs increasingly began to use specialized systems to regulate their activities, since they are indispensable assistants in solving the daily tasks of the company. Such software systems automate every process and allow you to streamline all procedures related to documentation.

Functions of electronic document management and its advantages

Production automation is designed to perform the following functions:

• registration of all internal, as well as incoming and outgoing documents;
• entering them into the program for subsequent monitoring;
• confirmation of data authenticity through an electronic digital signature;
• carrying out reference and information work;
• write-off of data to file;
• drawing up various reports on the results of the enterprise’s activities.

The main advantage of such paperwork is that there is no need to spend a lot of time on the approval of any project of the organization by individual employees or management. This is due to the ability to send the necessary information electronically. This method eliminates paperwork.

The electronic document management system must necessarily have a current archive, with the help of which corporate data can be obtained promptly. In addition, it provides a high level of reliability of information storage. The reference and information function makes it possible to select only the documentation required at the moment, which allows the company to save significant money on creating a storage facility for papers.

The most important feature is still a more simplified procedure for authenticating data. If information on paper requires the presence of such confirming elements as a seal, date, signature and details of the enterprise, then document flow in electronic form involves the use of an electronic digital signature. The main advantage of digital signature is the ability to use it for several documents at the same time.

Electronic digital signature

This office management tool is necessary to ensure the protection of all documents involved in the activities of the organization. It is represented as a cryptographic transformation of data secured by a private key. Its presence allows you to identify the owner of the signature and helps confirm the authenticity of the information. Legally, such an element of electronic document management is comparable to a handwritten signature, which is affixed on paper.

The main tasks that an electronic digital signature is designed to cope with are:

• ensuring information security against counterfeiting;
• identifying the owner of the key certificate;
• detection of any distortions in the data.

Electronic digital signature in document flow has its own peculiarity. It lies in the logical nature of this tool. It makes it possible to authenticate (check for changes), as well as recognize its owner.

How to determine the authenticity of a created signature and what advantages does it have?

In order to analyze an electronic document for its authenticity, it is necessary to identify the authorized person, as well as establish the truth of the information. The only way to do this is by filing a corresponding claim in court, where a thorough analysis of the company’s data and its documentation will be carried out.

The main advantages of using an electronic digital signature are:

1. Opportunity to establish partnerships with remotely located organizations.
2. Copies of electronic documents are equivalent.
3. Automation of each stage in signature development using specialized hardware and software.
4. Increasing the productivity of company employees.

Despite all the advantages of this element of the system, it also has its disadvantages. Thus, in order to create a reliable signature, it is imperative to use specialized legal, organizational and technical support. Technical methods of protection include cryptography methods. They are expressed in the creation of a unique sequence of characters, thanks to which you can not only recognize the creator of the digital signature, but also check the document for authenticity.

Cryptographic protection is presented in the form of data encryption and the development of a unique signing key. This method is an algorithm with the help of which a description of actions when converting any information is carried out. As for the key, it is created as the basis for this method.

Classification of data encryption methods

Currently, there are two types of encryption:

1. Symmetric. It involves transferring a key created by one partner to another. In this case, only one key is required to encrypt and decrypt information.
2. Asymmetrical. Special mathematical calculations are used. In this case, two keys are developed at once: one of them is used as an encryption element, and the other is used to decrypt the data. The first key remains with the owner of the signature and is called either private or private. The second element can be provided to a large circle of people (employees of the organization).

The article provides answers to the questions: “What does an electronic signature look like”, “How does an electronic signature work”, discusses its capabilities and main components, and also presents a visual step-by-step instruction the process of signing a file with an electronic signature.

What is an electronic signature?

An electronic signature is not an object that can be picked up, but a document requisite that allows you to confirm that the digital signature belongs to its owner, as well as record the state of information/data (presence or absence of changes) in the electronic document from the moment of its signing.

For reference:

The abbreviated name (according to Federal Law No. 63) is ED, but more often they use the outdated abbreviation EDS (electronic digital signature). This, for example, facilitates interaction with search engines on the Internet, since EP can also mean an electric stove, a passenger electric locomotive, etc.

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, a qualified electronic signature is the equivalent of a signature affixed “by hand”, which has full legal force. In addition to qualified digital signatures, there are two more types of digital signatures available in Russia:

- unqualified - ensures the legal significance of the document, but only after the conclusion of additional agreements between the signatories on the rules for the use and recognition of digital signatures, allows you to confirm the authorship of the document and control its immutability after signing,

- simple - does not give the signed document legal significance until additional agreements are concluded between the signatories on the rules for the use and recognition of digital signatures and without complying with the legally established conditions for its use (a simple electronic signature must be contained in the document itself, its key must be used in accordance with the requirements of the information system, where it is used, etc. in accordance with Federal Law-63, Article 9), does not guarantee its invariance from the moment of signing, allows you to confirm authorship. Its use is not permitted in cases related to state secrets.

Electronic signature capabilities

For individuals, digital signature provides remote interaction with government, educational, medical and other information systems through the Internet.

An electronic signature gives legal entities permission to participate in electronic trading, allows them to organize legally significant electronic document management (EDF) and submit electronic reporting to regulatory authorities.

The opportunities that digital signature provides to users have made it an important component Everyday life both ordinary citizens and company representatives.

What does the phrase “an electronic signature has been issued to the client” mean? What does the digital signature look like?

The signature itself is not an object, but the result of cryptographic transformations of the document being signed, and it cannot be “physically” issued on any medium (token, smart card, etc.). She also cannot be seen in direct meaning this word; it does not look like a pen stroke or a figurative imprint. About, what does an electronic signature “look like”, We'll tell you a little below.

For reference:

A cryptographic transformation is an encryption that is built on an algorithm that uses a secret key. The process of restoring the original data after cryptographic transformation without this key, according to experts, should take longer than the validity period of the extracted information.

Flash media is a compact storage medium that includes flash memory and an adapter (USB flash drive).

A token is a device whose body is similar to that of a USB flash drive, but the memory card is password protected. The token contains information for creating an electronic signature. To work with it, you need to connect to the USB connector of your computer and enter a password.

A smart card is a plastic card that allows you to carry out cryptographic operations using a built-in microcircuit.

A SIM card with a chip is a mobile operator card equipped with a special chip, onto which a java application is securely installed at the production stage, expanding its functionality.

How should we understand the phrase “an electronic signature has been issued,” which is firmly entrenched in the colloquial speech of market participants? What does an electronic signature consist of?

The issued electronic signature consists of 3 elements:

1 - an electronic signature tool, that is, a technical tool necessary for implementing a set of cryptographic algorithms and functions. This can be either a cryptoprovider installed on a computer (CryptoPro CSP, ViPNet CSP), or an independent token with a built-in cryptoprovider (EDS Rutoken, JaCarta GOST), or an “electronic cloud”. You can read more about digital signature technologies related to the use of the “electronic cloud” in the next article of the Unified Electronic Signature Portal.

For reference:

A crypto provider is an independent module that acts as an “intermediary” between operating system, which, using a certain set of functions, controls it, and a program or hardware complex that performs cryptographic transformations.

Important: the token and the qualified digital signature on it must be certified by the FSB of the Russian Federation in accordance with the requirements federal law № 63.

2 - a key pair, which consists of two impersonal sets of bytes generated by an electronic signature tool. The first of them is the electronic signature key, which is called “private”. It is used to form the signature itself and must be kept secret. Placing a “private” key on a computer and flash media is extremely unsafe; on a token it is somewhat unsafe; on a token/smart card/sim card in a non-removable form is the most secure. The second is the electronic signature verification key, which is called “public”. It is not kept secret, is uniquely tied to the “private” key and is necessary so that anyone can verify the correctness of the electronic signature.

3 - EDS verification key certificate issued by a certification center (CA). Its purpose is to associate an anonymized set of bytes of a “public” key with the identity of the owner of the electronic signature (person or organization). In practice, this looks like this: for example, Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov (an individual) comes to the certification center, presents his passport, and the CA issues him a certificate confirming that the declared “public” key belongs to Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov. This is necessary to prevent a fraudulent scheme, during the deployment of which an attacker in the process of transmitting “open” code can intercept it and replace it with his own. This will give the criminal the opportunity to impersonate the signer. In the future, intercepting messages and making changes, he will be able to confirm them with his digital signature. That is why the role of the electronic signature verification key certificate is extremely important, and the certification center bears financial and administrative responsibility for its correctness.

In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, there are:

— “electronic signature verification key certificate” is generated for an unqualified digital signature and can be issued by a certification center;

— “a qualified electronic signature verification key certificate” is generated for a qualified digital signature and can only be issued by a CA accredited by the Ministry of Communications and Mass Communications.

Conventionally, we can indicate that electronic signature verification keys (sets of bytes) are technical concepts, and a “public” key certificate and a certification authority are organizational concepts. After all, the CA is a structural unit that is responsible for matching “public” keys and their owners within the framework of their financial and economic activities.

To summarize the above, the phrase “an electronic signature has been issued to the client” consists of three components:

1. The client purchased an electronic signature tool.
2. He received a “public” and “private” key, with the help of which the digital signature is generated and verified.
3. The CA issued the client a certificate confirming that the “public” key from the key pair belongs to this particular person.

Security issue

Required properties of signed documents:

• integrity;
• reliability;
• authenticity (authenticity; “non-repudiation” of the authorship of information).

They are provided by cryptographic algorithms and protocols, as well as software and hardware-software solutions based on them for generating an electronic signature.

With a certain degree of simplification, we can say that the security of an electronic signature and the services provided on its basis is based on the fact that the “private” keys of the electronic signature are kept secret, in a protected form, and that each user responsibly stores them and does not allow incidents.

Note: when purchasing a token, it is important to change the factory password, so no one will be able to access the digital signature mechanism except its owner.

How to sign a file with an electronic signature?

To sign a digital signature file, you need to complete several steps. As an example, let's look at how to put a qualified electronic signature on a trademark certificate of the Unified Electronic Signature Portal in .pdf format. Need to:

1. Right-click on the document and select the crypto provider (in this case CryptoARM) and the “Sign” column.

2. Follow the path in the crypto provider dialog boxes:

At this step, if necessary, you can select a different file to sign, or skip this step and go directly to the next dialog box.

The Encoding and Extension fields do not require editing. Below you can choose where the signed file will be saved. In the example, a document with digital signature will be placed on the desktop.

In the “Signature Properties” block, select “Signed”; if necessary, you can add a comment. The remaining fields can be excluded/selected as desired.

Select the one you need from the certificate store.

After checking that the “Certificate Owner” field is correct, click the “Next” button.

In this dialog box, the final check of the data required to create an electronic signature is carried out, and then after clicking on the “Finish” button, the following message should pop up:

Successful completion of the operation means that the file has been cryptographically converted and contains requisites that record the immutability of the document after it is signed and ensure its legal significance.

So, what does an electronic signature on a document look like?

For example, we take a file signed with an electronic signature (saved in .sig format) and open it through a crypto provider.

Desktop fragment. Left: file signed with digital signature, right: crypto provider (for example, CryptoARM).

Visualization of the electronic signature in the document itself when opening it is not provided due to the fact that it is a requisite. But there are exceptions, for example, the electronic signature of the Federal Tax Service when receiving an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities/Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs via an online service is conditionally displayed on the document itself. The screenshot can be found at

But how in the end EDS “looks”, or rather, how is the fact of signing indicated in the document?

By opening the “Manage signed data” window through the crypto provider, you can see information about the file and signature.

When you click on the “View” button, a window appears containing information about the signature and certificate.

The last screenshot clearly demonstrates what does the digital signature look like on a document?"from within".

You can purchase an electronic signature at.

Ask other questions on the topic of the article in the comments, the experts of the Unified Electronic Signature Portal will definitely answer you.

The article was prepared by the editors of the Unified Electronic Signature Portal website using materials from SafeTech.

When using the material in full or in part, a hyperlink to www..

Disadvantage of the method: although the message is securely encrypted, the recipient and sender are exposed by the very fact of sending an encrypted message.

The general idea of ​​a public key cryptographic system is to use, when encrypting a message, such a function from the public key and the message (cipher function), which is algorithmically very difficult to reverse, that is, to calculate its argument from the value of the function, even knowing the value of the key.

System Features

The advantage of asymmetric ciphers over symmetric ciphers is that there is no need to transmit a secret key. The party wishing to receive ciphertexts, in accordance with the algorithm used, generates a “public key - private key” pair. The key values ​​are related, but calculating one value from another should be impossible from a practical point of view. The public key is published in open directories and is used to encrypt information by the counterparty. The private key is kept secret and is used to decrypt the message sent to the owner of the key pair. Asymmetric ciphers were pioneered in 1976 by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman, New Directions in Modern Cryptography. They proposed a shared secret key exchange system based on the discrete logarithm problem. In general, the basis of the known asymmetric cryptosystems is one of the complex mathematical problems, which allows the construction of one-way functions and trap functions. For example, the Rivest-Shamir-Adelman cryptosystem uses the factorization problem large numbers, and the Merkle-Hellman and Hoare-Rivest cryptosystems rely on the so-called knapsack problem.

Disadvantages - asymmetric cryptosystems require significantly greater computing resources. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the authenticity (authenticity) of the public keys themselves, for which certificates are usually used.

A hybrid (or combined) cryptosystem is an encryption system that has all the advantages of a public key cryptosystem, but without its main drawback - low encryption speed.

Principle: Cryptographic systems take advantage of the two main cryptosystems: symmetric and asymmetric cryptography. Programs such as PGP and GnuPG are built on this principle.

The main disadvantage of asymmetric cryptography is its low speed due to the complex calculations required by its algorithms, while symmetric cryptography has traditionally demonstrated brilliant performance. However, symmetric cryptosystems have one significant drawback - their use requires the presence of a secure channel for transmitting keys. To overcome this drawback, they resort to asymmetric cryptosystems that use a pair of keys: public and private.

Encryption: Most encryption systems work like this. For a symmetric algorithm (3DES, IDEA, AES or any other), a random key is generated. Such a key usually has a size from 128 to 512 bits (depending on the algorithm). A symmetric algorithm is then used to encrypt the message. In the case of block ciphers, it is necessary to use an encryption mode (for example, CBC), which will allow the message to be encrypted with a length greater than the block length. As for the random key itself, it must be encrypted with the public key of the message recipient, and it is at this stage that a public key cryptosystem (RSA or Diffie-Hellman Algorithm) is applied. Since the random key is short, encrypting it takes little time. Encrypting a set of messages using an asymmetric algorithm is a computationally more complex task, so it is preferable to use symmetric encryption. Then it is enough to send a message encrypted with a symmetric algorithm, as well as the corresponding key in encrypted form. The recipient first decrypts the key using his private key, and then uses the resulting key to receive the entire message.

A digital signature provides:

• -Certification of the source of the document. Depending on the details of the document definition, fields such as “author”, “changes made”, “time stamp”, etc. may be signed.
• -Protection against document changes. Any accidental or intentional change to the document (or signature) will change the cipher, therefore, the signature will become invalid.
• - Impossibility of refusing authorship. Since you can create a correct signature only by knowing the private key, and it is known only to the owner, the owner cannot refuse his signature on the document.

The following digital signature threats are possible:

• -An attacker may try to forge a signature for a document of his choice.
• -An attacker can try to match a document to a given signature so that the signature matches it.

When using a strong cipher function, it is computationally difficult to create a counterfeit document with the same cipher as the genuine one. However, these threats can be realized due to weaknesses in specific caching algorithms, signatures, or errors in their implementations. However, the following threats to digital signature systems are also possible:

• -An attacker who steals a private key can sign any document on behalf of the key owner.
• -An attacker can trick the owner into signing a document, for example using a blind signature protocol.
• -An attacker can replace the owner's public key with his own, impersonating him.

An important problem in all public key cryptography, including digital signature systems, is public key management. It is necessary to ensure that any user has access to the true public key of any other user, protect these keys from being replaced by an attacker, and also organize the revocation of the key if it is compromised.

The problem of protecting keys from substitution is solved with the help of certificates. The certificate allows you to certify the data contained in it about the owner and his public key with the signature of any trusted person. Centralized certificate systems use certificate authorities maintained by trusted organizations. In decentralized systems, by cross-signing the certificates of familiar and trusted people, each user builds a network of trust.

Key management is handled by certificate distribution centers. By contacting such a center, the user can obtain a certificate for a user, and also check whether a particular public key has not yet been revoked.

Electronic digital signature - reliable protection of the interests of any categories of citizens

The business sector has been influenced by digital technologies and technical progress just like many other branches of human activity. In addition to archives and reports presented digitally, in modern business world You can increasingly hear the concept of an “electronic digital signature,” thanks to the presence of which you can significantly expand the range of opportunities for business owners and their authorized representatives.

What it is?

Unlike a conventional signature presented electronically on a document, an electronic digital analogue is a requisite obtained by cryptographic transformation of information. Activation of such a tool is possible only if a private key is used, which increases the level of reliability and security of the signature. Thanks to at this moment It is simply impossible to make unauthorized changes to the details.

Both individuals and legal entities can use digital signatures in everyday life. This gives the former the opportunity to participate in virtual auctions, enter into contracts with trusted partners without leaving the office, and also resolve a host of other issues. As for the second category of citizens, digital signature in this case significantly simplifies the solution of everyday issues. For example, using such details, you can quickly make an appointment with a doctor via the Internet, send an application for admission to a university, submit a request to the Housing Office, and so on.

Obtaining an electronic signature for legal entities or individual entrepreneurs, as well as for individuals must be carried out in special certified centers. Otherwise, the customer risks receiving an electronic digital signature that has no legal force or is easily forged.

Advantages of digital signature

Using digital signature has a number of advantages

Reliability. A signature obtained from a certified center cannot be forged under any circumstances. Accordingly, in this case the client receives a full guarantee of the protection of personal data and interests.

Save time. Using the tool, you can quickly resolve the required issues yourself or by transferring authority to third parties. The main thing is that along with the signature the key is given to the citizen.

Guarantee of protection of interests. The owner of the signature cannot refuse it, since it requires the use of a key to activate it.

You can learn more about the features of using digital signatures or order props and keys for them by contacting a specialist from a certified center.