Remote working has quickly become the new normal. As global businesses transition to remote channels, we discuss how eSignatures can help facilitate this process.
Many businesses that were initially sceptical have experienced the benefits and many will likely continue with remote working long after it’s necessary.
The barriers that once held businesses back from a complete remote setup have been lifted, but organisations do need to ensure the security and integrity of their information while securely identifying users and devices.
Facilitating remote business
Below are a few ways eSignatures and PKI solutions can help with the move to becoming a fully remote organisation:
Not all eSignatures are created equal
Did you know there are four eSignature types?
- Click to sign
- Basic
- Advanced (AES)
- Qualified (QES)
Each signature provides a different level of security and it’s important to understand which one is right for your document and legal circumstances.
Although the terms eSignature (electronic signature) and digital signature are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between the two.
Digital signatures must provide a way to authenticate the signer’s identity. We have useful FAQs that answer all the questions you might have about digital signatures and their uses.
Documents need to remain valid long into the future
Once you’ve signed a document with an electronic signature, it needs to remain valid and verifiable over time.
Time stamping from a trusted time stamping authority (TSA) provides independent and irrefutable proof of who signed a document, when they signed it and that it has not been altered.
This evidence is especially important for legally binding documents, such as contracts that could be later disputed in court. Long-term validation (LTV) signatures provide proof at the time of signing that the signer’s credentials were valid, that no further changes have been made and that the document remains valid (even if certificates or credentials expire at a later date).
Esignatures are an efficient authorisation solution for business
One of the many benefits eSignatures have over traditional paper and ink signatures is efficiency. A document no longer needs to be printed, mailed, checked and sent back to be signed. It can all be done digitally, considerably speeding up the process.
For organisations that need to authorise hundreds, sometimes thousands, of documents a day (such as insurance policies), bulk signing automates this process without compromising on security.
For organisations that require signing on behalf of the business rather than an individual, eSeals have a signing key that belongs to the corporation rather than an individual.
Qualified remote signing provides high-trust authorisation
There is no longer the need to travel halfway across the world to sign a document in-person. In recent weeks, some sectors have started to realise this.
Remote Qualified Signing enables businesses to authorise signing actions directly from their mobile devices, removing the need for smartcards or USB tokens.
A Qualified Signature Creation Device (QSCD) provides eIDAS compliant Qualified Remote Signatures, enabling businesses to create signatures remotely with signing keys held securely in the cloud. There’s no need for any hardware, enabling secure signing from any device, anywhere.
