News

On November 8, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union provisionally approved the revision of the new eIDAS Regulation, which is a fundamental step towards the European digital transformation.

The main novelty is the introduction of the European Digital Identity Wallet - EU wallet.

This EU wallet aims to ensure that all natural and legal persons in the European Union have secure, continuous and reliable access to cross-border public and private services, allowing its users to digitally sign documents, open bank accounts, make online payments, store electronic documents, among other features.

Another important feature of this wallet is that it will allow selective disclosure of personal attributes to third parties. This feature will make it possible to reinforce the convenience and protection of personal data, specifically by minimizing the processing of personal data.

In addition to the introduction of the new digital identity wallet, the new eIDAS Regulation aims to cover new qualified services, such as the qualified electronic archiving service and qualified electronic ledgers. The new eIDAS Regulation is expected to be published in early 2024.

You can access the press release here:
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/pt/press/press-releases/2023/11/08/european-digital-identity-council-and-parliament-reach-a-provisional-agreement-on-eid/

DigitalSign, an innovative leader in the digital signature technology and identity certification sector, is pleased to announce the official opening of its expanded facilities, marking a significant milestone in its trajectory of continuous growth and innovation.

On September 30, 2023, the DigitalSign team, with those who contributed to the creation of this new space, met to celebrate the inauguration of this new and inspiring work area. This new DigitalSign workspace represents a commitment to enhancing collaboration, innovation and quality of service.

This new facility features a modern design, collaborative work areas, meeting rooms and an environment that promotes creativity and efficiency. The expansion will also allow DigitalSign to continue attracting exceptional talent and expanding its services to meet growing market developments.

DigitalSign would like to thank everyone who contributed to making this expansion a reality, including its dedicated team, strategic partners and customers.

The company's commitment to excellence and innovation remains stronger than ever.

DIGITALSIGN – Certificadora Digital, S.A., Certifying Authority (CA), duly accredited by the National Security Authority (http://www.gns.gov.pt/), renewed recently the certification, by the accredited conformity assessment body, CSQA Certificazioni SRL (https://www.csqa.it/) , in accordance with the requirements specified in the Regulation (EU) eIDAS No. 910/2014 as a qualified trust service provider for activities related to the following services:
- Qualified certificate for electronic signature;
- Qualified electronic time stamp
- Qualified certificate for electronic seal
for complying with the following standards: ETSI EN 319 401, ETSI EN 319 421, ETSI EN 319 411-1 e ETSI EN 319 411-2.

Certificate of Conformity available for consultation:
- Document in PDF format: ETSI EN 319 401/411-1/411-2/421
- CSQA Certificazioni SRL website, certified companies: https://www.csqa.it/it-it/aziende-certificate

Between the 27th and 29th of June, DigitalSign was present at the QSP Summit, the most relevant Management and Marketing Conference in Europe, welcoming global leaders who set trends and which takes place annually in Portugal.

This event brings together professionals and experts in marketing, innovation, technology and management, providing a platform for exchanging knowledge, networking and discussing the latest trends and challenges in the sector.

At the QSP Summit, renowned experts and leaders from successful companies share their experiences, ideas and insights on how to drive business forward and stand out in the competitive market.

It is a unique opportunity to learn, be inspired and establish valuable connections with influential and innovative professionals, with lectures, discussion panels, workshops and presentations of successful cases, focusing on topics such as digital transformation, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, customer experience customer, leadership and innovation.

It is an event that is always highly anticipated by professionals in the field, executives and entrepreneurs who seek to keep up to date on the most efficient marketing and management strategies, as well as learn about the main trends that are shaping the current market, where DigitalSign could not fail to be.

On June 29, 2023, DigitalSign organized, in partnership with Cuatrecasas, recognized as one of the main law firms in the Iberian Peninsula, the event Regtech & Legaltech: Benefits and applicability in digital transformation.

In an event aimed at those responsible for the legal, compliance, sustainability, research & development, innovation, as well as AML money laundering areas., where together, we discuss legal aspects and real cases of applicability of trust services in digital transformation processes of organisations, in the light of the European electronic identity recognition system.

This event featured a panel of outstanding speakers: Joana Mota Agostinho (Partner, Cuatrecasas); Lavinia Pinto Marques (Associate, Cuatrecasas); Miguel Cruz (Commercial and Marketing Director, DigitalSign) and Nuno Goes (DGU – Digital Global Unit | Security & IT Risk, EDP Energias de Portugal).

In an increasingly competitive market, stopping means staying behind. Evolving is the only possible path. It is essential to keep up with trends and technological advancements in order to identify and take advantage of all opportunities, even if that means having to pursue paths that have never been taken before.

Therefore, it is necessary to have skills such as adaptability, resilience, clear vision of the business, well-defined objectives and differentiation in an increasingly competitive market.

Unstoppable companies are those prepared to grow, where technology assumes the power to transform businesses and people, for unequivocal and lasting success.

As a PHC Software partner, DigitalSign has once again strengthened this relationship by being one of the PHC Open Minds’ sponsors, which took place on the 21st and 22nd of March, 2023, at PHC headquarters, elevating and boosting the digital transformation of companies.

Wanting is power with integrated solutions from DigitalSign and PHC Software.
So, being an unstoppable company is literally in your hands!

Receiving an electronically signed document and not being certain about the validity of your signature is a problem that we at DigitalSign see happening on a daily basis, and that, perhaps, there is even refusal of this document for fear of accepting something without any kind of probative value.

Now you can overcome these difficulties, using a new tool from DigitalSign: DS Verify – A Qualified Service for Validating Electronic Signatures.

DigitalSign has developed a new tool called DS Verify, the purpose of this tool is precisely to make possible to verify whether a qualified electronic signature (or qualified electronic seal) affixed to a given electronic document is, in fact, valid, under the terms recommended in the eIDAS Regulation. For this, the only thing you need to do is submit the electronic document in DS Verify, to immediately receive the results related to the signature.

In addition, DS Verify automatically generates two types of reports, which will provide you with all the information regarding the qualified certificate and the signature itself: name of the signer, respective identification number, date and time of signature, certificate format, hash of document, among others.

What's the big advantage? Using DS Verify, not only can you validate, in real time, the validity of the signature of a certain electronic document, but you can also store the reports generated by the platform, in order to preserve the necessary documentary evidence. This is the type of vetting flow that can be implemented in your organization, in order to assure that this validation was, in fact, carried out.

Finally, it should be noted that this tool complies with the eIDAS Regulation, namely with its article 32.º, and with all the technical standards that underlie it, being a qualified service, being part of the List of European Trust (Trusted List) published under the terms of the same legislation, available at https://esignature.ec.europa.eu/efda/tl-browser/#/screen/tl/PT/7/22

DS Verify

DIGITALSIGN – Certificadora Digital, S.A., Certifying Authority (CA), duly accredited by the National Security Authority (http://www.gns.gov.pt/), renewed recently the certification, by the accredited conformity assessment body, CSQA Certificazioni SRL (https://www.csqa.it/) , in accordance with the requirements specified in the Regulation (EU) eIDAS No. 910/2014 as a qualified trust service provider for activities related to the following services:
- Qualified certificate for electronic signature;
- Qualified electronic time stamp
- Qualified certificate for electronic seal
for complying with the following standards: ETSI EN 319 401, ETSI EN 319 421, ETSI EN 319 411-1 e ETSI EN 319 411-2.

Certificate of Conformity available for consultation:
- Document in PDF format: ETSI EN 319 401/411-1/411-2/421
- CSQA Certificazioni SRL website, certified companies: https://www.csqa.it/KPlanciaTools/KPCertificate.ashx?123423897

On November 15, 2022, DigitalSign in partnership with the Polícia Judiciária (Criminal Police of Portugal) held a workshop on the theme: “Cybercrime and Secure Digital Transformation”.

The evolution of the digital transformation poses new and growing challenges from a security perspective.

The digital has an impact on all sectors of our daily lives and, for the common user, living with the multiple dimensions of security, due to its complexity and constant change, presents itself as quite complex.

From the perspective of cybercriminals, the possibility of committing crimes at a distance gives them a sense of impunity. They cross the networks of multiple countries and jurisdictions where local legislation either does not provide for the crimes committed or does not apply to the jurisdiction where the crime is committed. In many cases, the method applied by the criminal makes it impossible to obtain evidence to find them and, as well, to punish them.

We thus streamline a workshop that aims to present different perspectives on the subject of cybercrime and information security.

There were more than 170 people who accompanied us during this productive day and in which expectations were largely exceeded by both the organization and the participants.

This workshop featured a range of excellent speakers with extensive experience and knowledge on the subject of cybercrime and digital security, as well as extremely relevant topics:

- Opening of the workshop - Luís Neves, Nacional Diretor at Polícia Judiciária and Carlos Cabreiro, Director at UNC3T

- “The eIDAS Regulation and its relevance for a secure digital society” - Nuno Pimpão, Lieutenant-Colonel at National Security Office - Portugal

- “The typology of cybercrime in national critical infrastructures – some examples” - Ricardo Oliveira, Director at Eurotux

- “Prevention of identity theft in remote identification processes” - Álvaro Matos, General Manager at DigitalSign

- “The importance of eIDAS as a mitigation of cyber-risk: the example of electronic invoicing” - Fábio Rego, Lawyer and Business Development at DigitalSign

- “Banking phishing - a case study” - Paulo Gonçalves, Chief Inspector at the Coordination of the Central Section for the Investigation of Computer and Technological Crime of the PJ’s National Unit for Combating Cybercrime and Technological Crime

- “Cyber-information management at Banco de Portugal” - Pedro Silva, Coordinator of the cybersecurity and IT compliance area at Banco de Portugal

- “Case study: the dematerialization of EDP processes with legal and IT security” - Nuno Goes, DGU – Digital Global Unit | Security & IT Risk at EDP Energias de Portugal

- “Cybersecurity – from behaviors to organizational practices” - César Afonso, Chief Inspector in Coordination and Information Officer at UNC3T from Polícia Judiciária

- “The role of trust services provided for in eIDAS: the case of the European Commission” - Apostolos Apladas, Program Manager - eID and eSigning Services at Comissão Europeia

- “New National Digital Identity Card of Brazil” - Eduardo Magalhães de Lacerda, Director of Citizen Identification Modernization at General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Brazilian Republic

- “Wrap up and closing round table moderation” - Joana Mota Agostinho, TMT Lawyer and Data Protection Partner at Cuatrecasas e Rogério Bravo, Criminal Investigation Coordinator at Polícia Judiciária

- Closing of the workshop – Rear Admiral, António Gameiro Marques at National Security Office – Portugal

We could not fail to thank all the speakers, all those present and all the partners who joined DigitalSign and the Policia Judiciária for the success of this event: National Security Office - Portugal, Banco de Portugal, European Commission, General Secretariat of Presidency of the Bazilian Republic, Edp, Cuatrecasas and Eurotux.

For all those who could not be present and enthusiasts of this theme, we took care to capture the audio of all the interventions and make it available in the Podcast “O Cibercrime e a Transformação Digital Segura” (audio in Portuguese), which you can listen to through the platform Spotify at the following link: https://open.spotify.com/show/2CwUugGDr5ERKgHbobLRLt?si=f93addf672af4dbb

Following the scheduled intervention in the infrastructure over the weekend, for the continuous improvement of our services, we inform that it went as expected, having achieved the proposed objectives.

However, today we are detecting some instability in one of the services, causing sporadic malfunctions.

We are taking all measures to ensure that, by the end of today, the full operation of all services is resumed.

We apologize for the impacts this situation may cause to our clientes and partners, promising to be as brief as possible.

Thank you.

We want to leave our footprint on the world, but not through our packaging.

Embedded in the spirit of this statement, DigitalSign promotes yet another environmental responsibility initiative by minimizing environmental damage, exchanging plastic for paper in the composition of the packaging with which we send our certificates.

You will then receive a paper packaging, practical and easy to handle.

Being thought and conceived in favor of the environment, the choice of paper allows an easy recycling after withdrawing its certificate, or, and that's why we chose this 'box drawer' format, you can reuse it with other functions in your workplace or in your house.

DigitalSign was invited to participate in the 'Digital Contracts & ID' conference, organized by the FinTech and InsurTech Portugal Association (AFIP) and the insurance company Prévoir, in partnership with Abreu Advogados.

The insurance industry is changing and DigitalSign is helping to define its digital future. In today's world, customers expect the insurance process to be quick and easy, reducing the need for travel and physical contact. From the opportunity to the closing of the contract, each step must be simple for the client and promoter.

At this conference, several client use cases were presented from different sectors who are using SigningDesk, a tool developed by DigitalSign that helps to make this vision a reality, replacing manual and paper-based processes with automated digital technologies, which allow the use of different types of electronic signature. Digital signatures are fast, sustainable, secure and extremely convenient, contributing to a better experience for everyone.

The video of the event, which also featured other participants, can be seen here: https://eco.sapo.pt/2022/05/05/assinatura-digital-ganha-tracao-nos-seguros-e-acrescenta-valor-ao-pib/

DIGITALSIGN – Certificadora Digital, S.A., Certifying Authority (CA), duly accredited by the National Security Authority (http://www.gns.gov.pt/), renewed recently the certification, by the accredited conformity assessment body, CSQA Certificazioni SRL (https://www.csqa.it/) , in accordance with the requirements specified in the Regulation (EU) eIDAS No. 910/2014 as a qualified trust service provider for activities related to the following services:
- Qualified certificate for electronic signature;
- Qualified electronic time stamp
- Qualified certificate for electronic seal
for complying with the following standards: ETSI EN 319 401, ETSI EN 319 421, ETSI EN 319 411-1 e ETSI EN 319 411-2.

Certificate of Conformity available for consultation:
- Document in PDF format: ETSI EN 319 401/411-1/411-2/421
- CSQA Certificazioni SRL website, certified companies: https://www.csqa.it/KPlanciaTools/KPCertificate.ashx?123423897

Dear Customers and Partners, DigitalSign conducted an assessment of the recently announced CVEs for the log4j library:

CVE-2021-44228: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jfh8-c2jp-5v3q
CVE-2021-45105: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-p6xc-xr62-6r2g

None of our products/services are affected by these vulnerabilities, including:

- Qualified digital certificates and management applications (VirtualCSP, SafeSign IC, AcCheck, DSIssue, etc.);
- Timestamps;
- IDCert;
- DSAuth;
- PDF Sign&Seal;
- SigningHub;
- SigningDesk (retail and corporate versions);
- DSInvoice;
- CBSInvoice;

At a time when the digital is the 'new normal'', DigitalSign was subject of an article of Jornal de Negócios with the theme: “Digital documents increase the need for security”.

When the country began the confinement in March 2020, nobody knew for sure that after 13 months, teleworking would continue to be a reality for thousands of companies. Recently, DigitalSign has been in evidence for supporting several organizations (governments, public and private companies) across Europe in this global response to covid-19, in which remote work became a fundamental part of this new normal, through its secure process dematerialization solutions, in particular the SigningDesk signature platform.

During this interview, in addition to the launch of this platform, several topics were addressed, namely the electronic invoicing and the use of Qualified Electronic Seals for signing invoices, thus allowing its recipient to check online and free of charge that it has not been altered or that it is not a fraudulent scheme. Besides providing increased security and an easier use of qualified digital certificates, DigitalSign’s also benefits the companies through its technology, allowing still a strong cost reduction with paper elimination.

DigitalSign welcomes the publication of this interview, serving as an incentive to continue the hard work at supporting our customers to quickly and safely adapt to these new challenges of remote work.

Access the complete article at the following link: https://www.jornaldenegocios.pt/c-studio/detalhe/documentos-digitais-aumentam-a-necessidade-de-seguranca

DigitalSign is pleased to announce that we have successfully completed the accreditation of a new Root Certification Authority (ROOT CA) at the GNS – National Security Office, using the latest cryptographic algorithms, including 'Elliptical Curves' technology.

These new CAs is already published in the European Union’s Trust List (EU List of eIDAS Trusted Lists - LOTL): https://esignature.ec.europa.eu/efda/tl-browser/#/screen/tl/PT/7

In order to make the capacities of this technological evolution available to all our customers, DigitalSign will start a process of updating of all active digital certificates from April 2021.

Throughout these 20 years of existence, we are proud to have implemented high quality and impact projects in the public and private sector, allowing our customers to create new business models in a completely safe way and with enormous benefits.

In addition to this technological evolution culminating in the launch of these new CAs, we would like to highlight the recent release of SigningDesk, a platform which makes Qualified electronic signatures even more easy to use.

As indicated in the new law - Decree-Law 4-B/2021 of February 1, the new measures adopted in the context of the pandemic, refer that ”The signature and subscription of the minutes can be carried out by qualified electronic signature or by handwritten signature, bet on the original document (…).”

This Decree of law clearly allows and encourages the holding of assemblies of joint owners through distance communication means.

DigitalSign has the ideal solution to simplify this process, allowing, for example, to issue qualified certificates and collect the signatures of all unit owners, quickly, securely and 100% online with just a few clicks. Learn more here.

Get in touch with our sales team to guide you through this transition to the new digital world!

DigitalSign is very proud to be the provider of Qualified Digital Certificates for employees of the European Commission and European Agencies and to support the development and integration of the EU Sign platform, which is proving to be a very useful tool.

We welcome the Initiative of the European Commission, which through this portal allows european institutions, agencies and bodies to digitise their workflows, moving to a paperless administration.

In the video published by the EC, it can be verified that the use of qualified electronic signature, has ensured a simple and secure experience for signing electronic documents online and thus dramatically accelerating processes in this body as a result of the secure integration of DigitalSign and EC systems.

Do you still sign paper documents? Contact our commercial team to find out how we can help to end the use of paper in your organization.

DigitalSign thanks the EC's the continuous trust in our services.

DigitalSign concludes the year 2020, with the consummation of the expansion of our operations to the Middle East, UAE - United Arab Emirates, being accredited by the local supervisory Authority as an Accredited Certification Entity, thus continuing the Internationalization plan initiated in Latin America, more specifically in Brazil.

Together with our English partner Ascertia, we intend in 2021 start to materialize the multiple opportunities offered by this region.

We also plan to continue the company's international expansion in 2021, launching similar processes in other emerging European markets.

2020 was a year of a record growth in DigitalSign's operations in Portugal and Brazil.

Thanks to everyone that trust in our services, allowing this sustained growth!

DigitalSign is very proud to be the chosen entity by the European Commission, for issuing Qualified Digital Certificates, under the eIDAS regulation, to support the European Commission's EU Sign service which among many other relevant acts, enabled the signing of the first international agreement using Qualified electronic signatures, in a joint initiative with the World Bank.

We are honored to participate in this project at European Commission and appreciate the spirit of innovation of the Commission and the World Bank.

Extract from the Commission's Press Release can be found bellow, and completed at:

"On Wednesday, 8 July 2020, the European Commission and the World Bank Group signed electronically a Financial Framework Partnership Agreement, which guides the terms under which the Bank Group will use EU funding for development projects across the world. This is the first international agreement that the Commission signs using its own Qualified Electronic Signature service, EU Sign.
Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Budget and Administration, said:
“The use of electronic signatures is becoming a norm for modern public administrations and I am looking forward to fully implementing it in the Commission’s work processes.”"

Moovit, the leading Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solutions company and the most used urban mobility application in the world, and DigitalSign will be partners in mapping public transport in Guimarães and other parts of northern Portugal. With the partnership, the entire population of the region will benefit from information about their public transport options.

The joint work, to be carried out by students from the Department of Information Systems at UMinho, within the scope of LabSecIoT@DSI-UMinho, powered by Digitalsign, will start on Friday, May 29, when 50 students from the University will participate in a webinar with Moovit. Students will be introduced to creating data to form a GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) file, used in navigation applications, through Moovit's Transit Data Manager. Information on 40 bus lines in the region will be mapped or reviewed.

“This is the first action of the Moovit University project in Portugal, after successful activities in Brazil, the United States, Israel and other countries. In initiatives like this, Moovit joins forces with university students to bring benefits to the entire community,” says Manuel Molés, partnership manager at Moovit.

The webinar will be presented by the Moovit team, and by one of its ambassadors, Raúl Campos, assigned to Porto and the Northern Region of Portugal. The ambassadors represent Mooviters, Moovit's community of local publishers. Currently, there are 685,000 Mooviters in 142 countries, responsible for mapping 77% of the cities available in the application.

About Moovit
Moovit, an Intel company, is the global leader in Mobility as a Service (MaaS), and the world's most used urban mobility app. More than 800 million users use Moovit for free to travel in more than 3,200 cities in 102 countries. For companies and governments, Moovit offers its MaaS solutions focused on operations and data analysis, with proven efficiency in reducing congestion, increasing the number of passengers, and increasing the efficiency and use of services.

Contact
Ana Paula Amorim – aamorim@digitalsign.pt

DigitalSign congratulates its entire network for reaching a 46% growth rate in Certificate emissions in 2019 and expects to repeat this strong growth in 2020.

The network is becoming increasingly professionalized, with a very differentiated customer service and is reaping the fruits of this good work.

Customer service processes have also improved a lot with the introduction of the new PMCERT tool, reducing service times in half, which has contributed to customer satisfaction. For 2020 new products will also be introduced for different professional classes and different purposes.

DigitalSign will innovate in what really matters to our customers, aiming for practicality and lowering costs for specific uses of the digital certificates.

The certificate gives you a very powerful tool. Through it, you manifest the desire you want, you sign the contract you want.”
- Marcelo Buz

The president of the National Institute of Information Technology - ITI, Marcelo Buz, spoke with great optimism about the subject at the 18th Conescap, an event held by Fenacon, pointing out the current existence of more than 8 million active certificates in a growing market. He also believes in a growth potential ten times greater, that may reach in the coming years the impressive mark of 80 million.

”There are only five acts that you cannot perform with a digital certificate: birth certificate, death certificate, marriage, divorce and a real estate transactions. All other legal acts in Brazil, can be done with your digital certificate, with presumption of legal validity. It's fantastic”, says Marcelo Buz.

The aim is to integrate the process not only in the daily life of entrepreneurs, but also in the life of regular citizens, going beyond documental deliveries and tax obligations.

For this scenario to become a reality, it is therefore necessary that Brazil breaks some paradigms established in recent decades, so this process can happen gradually and safely.

DigitalSign agrees with this statement from the President of ITI and will also contribute towards making this scenario of Digital Certificate massification in Brazil happen by offering the market new applications, simplifying the use of Digital Certificates.