Authorization of proxy digital signature in workflow systems

Abstract

In public key infrastructure systems the digital signature provides a mechanism to validate the identity of a signer and verify the authenticity and integrity of a signed document. However, the standard procedure for verifying digital signature cannot prove that the signer is authorized to sign the document. With proxy signature it is particularly important to prove whether the delegator is the authorized signer. In an organization environment with more document signers, such as in workflow processes in document management systems and electronic archive systems, a control mechanism should be provided throughout the document lifecycle to check whether the signer was actually authorized to sign the document. This paper proposes a mechanism for validating the authorization of the proxy signer during the whole document life cycle. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media.