Bit4id Manual for a Linux

8. Glossary

Certification Authority: is l'trusted entitya, responsible for issuing i revoke electronic certificates, used in electronic signature. L'Certification Authority, by itself o through the intervention of a Registration Authority, verifies the identity of the applicant for a certificate before its issuance o, in the case of certificates issued with the condition of revoked, eliminates the revocation of the certificates by checking this identity.

Expiration of the digital certificate: the digital certificate has a validity period that is stated in the certificate itself. It is generally 2 years, although by law a validity of up to a 5 years is allowed. Once the certificate has expired, the services offered by l'Administration that require an electronic signature cannot be used, i any electronic signature made a from that moment on will not be valid.

Digital certificate: document on computer media issued i signed by l'Certification Authority, which guarantees the identity of its owner.

Recognized certificate: certificate issued by a Certification Service Provider that meets the requirements established in the Law regarding a verification of the identity i other circumstances of the applicants i a reliability i guarantees of the certification services they provide, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter II of TTitle II of Law 59/2003, of 19 December, on Electronic Signatures.

Electronic signature: set of data, in electronic form, annexed a other electronic data o functionally associated with them, used as a means to a formally identify a l'author o the authors of the document that contains it. There are 3 types of electronic signature: simple electronic signature, advanced i recognized.

Simple electronic signature: set of data, in electronic form, annexes a other data.

Advanced electronic signature: electronic signature that allows the signatory to be identified i to detect any subsequent change to the signed data, which is uniquely linked to the signatory i a the data a to which i refers that has been created by means that the signatory can maintain under their exclusive control.

Recognized electronic signature: an advanced electronic signature based on a recognized i certificate generated by a secure signature creation device is considered a recognized electronic signature. The recognized electronic signature will have the same value with respect to data recorded electronically as a handwritten signature with respect to data recorded on paper.

Hash function: it is an operation that is performed on a data set of any size, so that the result obtained is another data set of fixed size, regardless of the original size, i which has the property of being uniquely associated a with the initial data, that is a to say, it is impossible to find two different messages that generate the same result when applying the hash function.

Hash o Fingerprint: fixed-size result obtained after applying a hash function a to a message i that meets the property of being uniquely associated a with the initial data.

Integrity: integrity is the quality possessed by a document o file that has not been altered i which a also allows verification that no manipulation has occurred in the original document.

Certificate Revocation Lists o Revoked Certificate Lists: list containing exclusively the lists of suspended revoked certificates o (not expired ones).

Non-repudiation: l'sender who electronically signs a document will not be able to deny that he sent the original message, since this is attributable a l'sender through the private key that only he knows i and is obliged a to keep. Non-repudiation also allows a to verify who participated in a transaction.

Non-repudiation o non-repudiation is a security service closely related to l'authentication i that allows to prove the participation of the parties in a communication. The essential difference with l'authentication is that the former occurs between the parties establishing the communication i the non-repudiation service occurs against a third party

Certification Service Provider o PSC: natural person o legal entity that issues electronic certificates o provides other services in relation to electronic signatures. See Certification Authority.

PIN: sequence of characters that allow laccess to certificates. NúPersonal Identification Number, asometimes called NIP.

PUK: sequence of characters that allow the change o unblocking of the PIN. Personal Unblocking Key.

Renewal Renewal consists of a requesting a new certificate using a valid certificate that is a about to expire. In this way, before the expiration of a certificate, renewal can be requested i which implies that a new valid certificate is issued.

Revocation: definitive cancellation of a digital certificate a request of the subscriber, o on the initiative of the l'Certification Authority in case of doubt about the security of the keys. Revocation is an irreversible state. The revocation of a certificate can be requested after a suspension situation o by the will of the authorized persons a requesting-it. Similarly, in the case of a suspended certificate, if the maximum suspension period has passed, if the certificate has not been enabled, it becomes a definitively revoked. When l'certification entity revokes o suspends a certificate, it must make-it appear in the Certificate Revocation Lists (CRL), to a make this fact public. These lists are public and must always be available.

Smart card: any card with integrated circuits that allow the execution of certain programmed logic.