Why is it important to certify digital data and content?

Digital data/content is central to our daily and business life now, whether it be text, images, audio or video. With the advent of the Internet and mobile computing we are avid creators and users of digital content. As creators we are concerned with ensuring what we create whether it is an email, document or image as examples, remains and are used as we intended and are not misused in any way. As consumers of digital information we want to be able to trust in digital content we receive and use, know its source and that it is accurate and authentic. However we all know how easy it is to copy or change digital content/data either accidentally or maliciously. One of the big advantages of the digital world is that digital content/data is easy to view, copy, manipulate and process. Its strength is also its weakness. So the question is how do we protect the integrity of digital content/data we create? And how do we trust digital data and content we receive and use?

Let us consider some of the reasons we need to consider doing more than we do today:

Why we need to certify Digital Data & Content?

·         Want to be able to prove ownership and copyright of digital content

·         Want to know if content published on web site or issued has  been tampered with

·         Want users of content/data to be able to trust it

·         Want to be able to prove to authorities and management that the information is in compliance with process, standards and regulations

·         Want to be able to use it as irrefutable evidence of  ownership and the authenticity of their original content or data as evidence in a court.

·         People, Organisations and 3^rd parties make important decisions based on digital data/content, these decisions can have negative consequences so creating confidence and an audit trail for digital data can create that confidence and history

·         Should there be a question, concern, audit or challenge to the integrity, authenticity and provenance of digital content/data being able to prove beyond doubt these elements will avoid issues and possibly penalties.

How can I quickly and cost effectively create an independently certified record for the provenance, authenticity and integrity of my digital content/data?

Using a service like Digiprove will quickly solve the problem, it is fast to register, use and integrate into your process and software. You can then automatically (Autoprotect), manually or at scheduled time or events ensure some or all of your digital content/data is certified.

A good solution like Digiprove will:

·         Create unique digital fingerprint for each piece of content and/or data using industrial strength encryption algorithms such as SHA-256.

·         Send that fingerprint to the secure independent proof engine in the cloud where it will be date, time and location stamped and combined with your metadata into a digital certificate.

·         All details will be recorded in a traceable and verifiable audit file and the certificate returned to you as well as being stored.

This is in effect your insurance certificate that is fully traceable and can be verified at any time. It is your undisputable evidence that you own the exact content, at a point in time.

That’s all very well, but how do I know the integrity, authenticity and provenance of the digital content/data remains intact and as originally intended and it has not been changed?

There are two key areas that must be considered, and these are covered in the Digiprove technology.

·         Verification of the integrity of digital content/data. You decide how you want to do this, it can be done manually at any time, automatically using “Autoverify” or integrated into your process-application to occur on specific events and/or at specific times with warnings highlighted should there have been a change or tampering. (Positive verification re enforces confidence and trust)

·         Evidence, It’s your digital certificate and the Digiprove record that enable you to prove ownership and integrity beyond all doubt, and in the event there is an incident or case where there has been inappropriate use or tampering you have certainty as to provenance, integrity and authenticity.

 Again using the insurance analysis, your certificates are the evidence you are protected, verification provides the evidence to the assessor of the circumstances that exist at a later point in time, and should there be a legal or regulatory case the authorities can trust.

For more information

Sign-up for a free 1 months trial

 ( https://www.digiprove.com/secure/subscribe.aspx )

Verify content

(https://www.digiprove.com/secure/DigiverifyFile.aspx )

Join entrepreneurs program and integrate Digiprove (http://protect.digiprove.com/entrepreneur-program )

Protect your Wordpress website or Blog (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/digiproveblog/)

 

 

Digital Transaction & Process integrity (Creating certification & user confidence)

Digital Transaction & Process integrity (Creating certification & user confidence)

Personal & Business people carry out many of their daily functions on-line in this digital age, but how do suppliers of on-line information and services create greater confidence in the user so they can grow their business, create deeper engagement and increase the user confidence to carry out more critical transactions with your on-line service?  The answer is about creating more trust.

In the on-line world, how do we create this trust? The answer lies in ensuring there is a chain of authentic evidence in the process that delivers your service, and that the user of the service can independently verify this chain of evidence with an independent specialist in digital content assurance. OK so what does that mean for the user? On-line users of services are very familiar with the standard security processes and brands, e.g. passwords, user authentication emails, SSL, Norton, Secure payment systems such as Visa, Realex, etc. All these components go to building trust for the user. In addition some service providers go the extra mile and use more complex and expensive certified keys and encryption, though this often comes with an over-head for the user.

How can we improve that user trust & confidence?

There are three key areas that need to be addressed in a simple and cost effective manner:

1.       Source Identity Integrity & Authenticity

a.       Is this person, company or entity, who they represent themselves to be?

2.       Content Provenance & Integrity

a.       Is the content (Digital) the original, un-tampered and as issued?

3.       Verification of Identity & Integrity

a.       Can I confirm with one click 1 & 2 above?

For the supplier of on-line services & information whether they be process based or transaction based, the question is how can I build these characteristics into my software in a simple and cost effective manner?

For the User when using the on-line service, is it obvious and intuitive that any information and service I use on this web-site I can trust, and if I have a concern can I independently verify the provenance, Integrity & Authenticity with one click of the mouse?

How to build in trust and certification to your software?

Digiprove’s patented and certified technology is a unique way to quickly and cost effectively build in a traceable, certified and verifiable set of functionality. By use of one of the Digiprove products or quickly embedding the process using our software developers kit (SDK).

What can be achieved by embedding Digiprove in your solution?

The most important outcome is your on-line service and information is differentiated because it has independently verifiable credentials, enabled by Digiprove.

·         End user customers and embedded partners have independent verification of their identity and can use the ID-V logo on their digital certificates.

·         Each piece of digital content (Text, Image, Audio, Video, Data), can at any stage in the process be quickly certified by the Digiprove “Proof Engine” as an automated task. This creates an audit trail and independently verifiable certificate with the digital fingerprint, date, time and location which is undisputable evidence and proof of authenticity.

·         The ability for a user or receiver of the content to either on or off-line verify the provenance, integrity and authenticity of the digital content as well as the credentials of the originator.

The bottom line is by deploying Digiprove technology any Digital Asset which has a value whether financial, reputational, brand or compliance can have that value protected.

Protecting On-Line Reputation

On-Line Reputation Management

Whether you are a business, not-for profit organisation, band, or individual your reputation and brand is important to you. We often differentiate between the on-line and off-line brand and reputation but for most they are closely connected all bit it there may be some slightly different emphasis on-line.  The one common thing is that in the world of today, which is a digital world is that our reputation can be damaged in milliseconds either accidentally or maliciously. Digital technology brings huge benefits in the flexibility to create, change and mass communicate content and information, but this benefit comes with risks that have to be managed.

So what are the risks?

There are two main digital risks that expose your reputation:-

1.       Identity Fraud or Theft

2.       Message tampering

Identity Fraud relates to known or unknown persons or entities misrepresenting themselves as someone else, or some other entity (Band, Association, Company, Organisation). Having adopted a false identity they then communicate misinformation that, as a minimum may be misleading and disruptive and, at worst be libellous and cause serious if not fatal damage to a reputation. Regardless of the extent of the misrepresentation there is a cost to those that are misrepresented and many other related stakeholders.

Message Tampering is the situation where what is communicated and interpreted by the reader has been changed either accidentally or maliciously. The ability even for the amateur hacker to change digital content is strong, given the nature of digital content, and the professional hacker can make changes and leave no record or evidence.

The bottom line is it’s relatively easy to adopt a false identity and to change digital data, text and tweets as examples.

How can I protect my on-line reputation?

Identity Fraud

There are many solutions, Twitter for example provide an identity verification and mark for high profile individuals, however they choose who will get the benefit of this process and, it is only offered to a relatively small number of famous people/entities.

Digiprove have enabled their technology process in order that anyone can add a significant layer of protection to their identity. By becoming a paid user of Digiprove’s on-line digital content protection service your Identity will be verified using your credit card details and so long as you have a credit card in the same name as your account registration. Once you have Digiproved your content or issued a tweet from Digiprove we associate  your content/ tweet with your identity. Readers of your content/tweets will be able to quickly verify you have an identity verified mark on www.digiprove.com at the click of the mouse.

Content & Tweet Tampering

In addition to ensuring your personal identity remains authentic, you are also concerned that your content/tweet is received un- tampered and the reader sees it exactly as you intended. By using the Digiprove functionality all your content/messages will be certified. This means there is a digital certificate created, which includes the unique digital fingerprint of your message, the date, time and your identity at the time you create your message. Any readers of your content whether it be documents, images, web pages etc. can verify the integrity on-line and view the certificate.

Digiprove inserts a short link into your tweet that all readers can see. By clicking on that link any reader can view the certificate details and also they can cut and paste the text should they wish and have the Digiprove proof engine confirm its integrity and authenticity, any tampering will be evident.