Verify a Digital Signature

Government agencies and authorised organisations can use TRIDENT validation services to assess certificate-based digital signatures received through their applications and document processes.

Validation helps determine whether the document has been modified, whether the signature is linked to a trusted certificate, and whether the certificate and timestamp were valid under the applicable trust framework.

How it works

1. The service submits the signed document for validation.
2. TRIDENT identifies the signatures contained in the document.
3. The integrity of the signed content is verified.
4. The signer’s certificate and trust chain are validated.
5. Certificate status and timestamp evidence are checked where applicable.
6. The service receives the validation result and available evidence.

Validation checks

Depending on the signature and document format, validation may include:

• signer information contained in the certificate;
• document and signature integrity;
• certificate trust-chain validation;
• certificate validity and status;
• OCSP or CRL checks;
• trusted timestamp validation;
• supported PAdES, XAdES or CAdES signatures;
• generation of validation details or a report.

Typical uses

• Validate a signed Government application.
• Check a document received from another organisation.
• Confirm that a PDF was not changed after signing.
• Verify the signer’s certificate and trusted origin.
• Validate timestamp evidence.
• Automate signature checks within a document workflow.

TRIDENT uses X.509 trust-chain validation, OCSP, CRLs and RFC 3161 timestamping practices to support signature validation and long-term trust evidence.