초록 ▼

A system and method are provided for producing verified signatures on documents such as checks and affidavits. Initially, a customer who is to obtain a verified signature, at some point in time, registers with a signatory authority, and a secret key, having public and private components, is establis

A system and method are provided for producing verified signatures on documents such as checks and affidavits. Initially, a customer who is to obtain a verified signature, at some point in time, registers with a signatory authority, and a secret key, having public and private components, is established uniquely for that customer. When a document requires a verified signature, the customer presents the document and proof of his/her identity, such as a preprogrammed computer-interfacable card, to a signature system. Typically, such a system is to be available at an institution, such as an office, bank, or post office, where such services will routinely be used. The system accesses the archive of the private portion of the customer's key, and generates an encoded signature based, in part, on the content of the document. Accordingly, when a recipient of the document later wishes to verify the signature, the recipient uses the customer's public key to decode the signature. It is then straightforward to verify the signature against the content of the document.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A signature verification method for use with a hardcopy document which is to bear a signature by a customer, the customer having a secure private key, the customer's private key corresponding with a publicly available public key, the method comprising the steps of:generat

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A signature verification method for use with a hardcopy document which is to bear a signature by a customer, the customer having a secure private key, the customer's private key corresponding with a publicly available public key, the method comprising the steps of:generating a digital signature, employing the customer's private key; the signature being based on the content of the hard-copy document, the step of generating employing an existentially unforgeable signature schemeassociating the signature with the hard-copy document;decoding the signature based on the customer's public key, thereby verifying that the customer signed the hard-copy document because the customer's private key was used; andverifying the content of the hard-copy document against the decoded signature, thereby verifying that the signature was made for the hard-copy document.