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QuoVadis Simplifies Digital Signatures with Adobe Approved Trust List

Fri, 14 May 2010 03:33:00 GMT

QuoVadis digital certificates are now automatically trusted in Adobe® Acrobat® 9 or Adobe® Reader® 9, the widely used PDF software, via the Adobe Approved Trust List.

As governments and companies adopt online business methods, they frequently turn to digital signatures to provide legal validity, to identify and authenticate users, and to protect data integrity of records.

Adobe has long provided digital signature capabilities in its products. Recognizing the wide array of certification authorities around the world, each providing digital certificates with different levels of authentication and security, Adobe recently introduced the Adobe Approved Trust List (AATL) to automatically enable trust for certificate issuers that adhere to a stringent set of operational and issuance standards.

With the AATL’s automatic updates, users can seamlessly check the integrity of a digitally signed PDF as well as confirm that the digital certificate was valid and issued by a high assurance certificate authority.

“As a Qualified certification service provider in several countries, QuoVadis has significant expertise in digital signatures,” said Roman Brunner, CEO of QuoVadis. “Given the wide familiarity with PDFs, signatures using Adobe products are an appealing option, whether the client is interested in legal compliance, environmental concerns, or the efficiency and cost-savings of online methods.”

“Our corporate and public sector clients sign hundreds of millions of PDFs each year using QuoVadis certificates. The automatic trust for QuoVadis in Adobe products creates a real benefit and convenience for those clients and their users,” continued Mr. Brunner.

Adobe products like Acrobat, Adobe Reader® and LiveCycle® Digital Signatures ES support two types of digital signatures. A “certifying” signature proves the origin of a document, and can lock the document against all future changes or allow specified actions such as signing, form completion, and commenting. An “approval” signature identifies the signer and verifies the document integrity, but multiple signatures are allowed.

The following QuoVadis token-based digital certificates are trusted by default in Adobe products:

QuoVadis Advanced+ Certificates (including QuoVadis Swiss ElDI-V and GeBüV certificates, and QuoVadis Bermuda Accredited certificates);
QuoVadis Qualified Certificates (including QuoVadis Swiss ZertES Qualified certificates, QuoVadis SuisseID certificates, and QuoVadis Dutch Qualified certificates); and
QuoVadis PKI Overheid certificates.

In addition, certifications by the QuoVadis Time-Stamp Authority are automatically recognised and validated.

QuoVadis is First to Launch for SuisseID, Partners with Trueb AG

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:25:00 GMT

QuoVadis is the first provider to rollout the new Swiss national electronic ID called SuisseID, signing up the Swiss Bar Association and its 9,000 lawyers.

The Swiss Government announced SuisseID (http://www.suisseID.com/) in 2009 as both an economic stimulus for the IT sector and as a public sector boost for e-commerce. The programme will create the country’s first standardised electronic credential, a digital certificate carried on a secure smartcard. The goal is that a SuisseID credential will be accepted by many different businesses and websites, easing the burden of managing access control lists and passwords.

According to QuoVadis CEO Roman Brunner, “QuoVadis has operated in Switzerland for more than 5 years as a Government-accredited issuer. In Europe there is significant interest in using digital certificates to enable online efficiency with proper security. We have invested heavily to prepare for SuisseID, which is generating significant momentum across the region for secure online transactions”.

SuisseID credentials will be issued to both individuals as well as to business representatives, validating the relationship and role with the organization linked with their identity. QuoVadis is one of two providers authorised to issue for both individuals and businesses.

The SuisseID credentials have several uses: they may be used instead of passwords to access a variety of participating websites, to encrypt information for privacy, and to create legally valid digital signatures. QuoVadis’ new client, the Swiss Bar Association, will use SuisseID to confirm lawyers’ qualifications and to allow digital notarisation of documents using digital signatures and PDF files.

In 2010, the SuisseID programme intends to issue 300,000 credentials. To help achieve critical mass, the Swiss Federal Government will subsidise the cost of issuing the certificates, and has offered incentives for corporate “pioneer projects” to use them. So far, more than 200 organisations have signed up to become SuisseID-enabled.

For the mass production of the SuisseID smartcards, QuoVadis is working with Trueb AG (http://www.trueb.ch/), a leading international provider of electronic cards and governmental identity documents. On May 1, QuoVadis will launch a web storefront (http://suisseid-shop.ch/) where users may register for their SuisseID and generate a PDF application form, which may then be taken a variety of locations (including an array of municipal and city governments, as well as retail outlets like the ‘mobilezone’ chain, across Switzerland) for the face-to-face confirmation of ID documents.

“The Government of Bermuda congratulates QuoVadis on this exciting development” said Bermuda’s Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce, the Hon. Michael Scott, JP, MP. “QuoVadis was first accredited in Bermuda in 2002 under our local Authorised Certification Service Provider law and, now with operations and clients in many countries, is one of our Bermudian e-commerce success stories.”

See more at https://suisseid-shop.ch/.

QuoVadis Expands Swiss Management Team

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:00:00 GMT

QuoVadis has expanded the management team of its Swiss subsidiary with the arrival of René Reinli as head of Business Development and Sales.

Mr. Reinli has deep experience in the e-business sector, particularly in banking, where he has previous experience in deploying trusted digital signatures to comply with regulations for authentication and data integrity.

Among other projects, Mr. Reinli will lead QuoVadis’ participation in SuisseID, a wide-ranging national e-ID programme being introduced in Switzerland for 2010. Subsidised by the Federal government, the SuisseID programme is intended to provide individuals and businesses with secure electronic identity cards that may be used across a range of online services, increasing the security of e-business and encouraging the growth of e-commerce in the country.

Founded in Bermuda in 1999, QuoVadis formed QuoVadis Trustlink Schweiz AG in 2005 to pursue Qualified Certification Service Provider (CSP) status through the Swiss regulator BAKOM (Bundesamt für Kommunikation) to better serve the needs of customers in Europe. In addition, QuoVadis is an EU Qualified CSP in Holland, and an Authorised CSP in Bermuda.

Qualified Certificates, as well as their associated digital signatures and trusted time-stamps, enjoy special legal status under most national laws and are rapidly being adopted for high value electronic transactions such as government filings, e-invoicing activities, and financial services.

QuoVadis Participates in SuisseID

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

QuoVadis will participate in SuisseID, a national e-identity programme being launched by the Swiss Confederation in spring of 2010.

Secure and reliable electronic identities are important requirements for legally valid e- commerce between organisations, public authorities, customers, and citizens.

The goal of the SuisseID is to increase the use of digital signatures to confirm that the correct person is conducting a transaction (authenticity) and that the transactional details have not been changed after the signing process (integrity). The digital signatures may also be used to validate the signer’s authority and professional titles.

SuisseID willl create a legally binding link between a natural person and their roles and authorisation inside an organisation. The programme is being launched by the existing Swiss certification service providers – including QuoVadis – as well as the Swiss Federal Office of Statistics and the eCH association.

The SuisseID system will contain three elements:

electronic proof of identity in form of an advanced certificate;
qualified electronic certificate for legally binding electronic signatures; and
electronic proof of authority.

Using SuisseID, users may securely authenticate at online services as well as sign legally binding documents. When needed, the authorisation register will provide the transparency between the participants, (e.g. full authority, affiliations to associations, professional register, etc.).

Every natural person can obtain a SuisseID from QuoVadis by May 2010. The Swiss Confederation will subsidise the first SuisseID recipients with up to 80% of the purchase price, with CHF 17 million in direct subsidies allocated to the programme.

More information can be found at www.suisseID.ch.