How to: Validating electronically signed documents

Documents produced by the print service are electronically signed. To verify the signatures the service uses a certificate issued by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV). The signer on the documents is Diak and they do not include personal signatures.

In documents produced by the service traditional signatures are replaced by an electronic signature (or e-singnature).

You can verify the authenticity and originality (i.e. immutability) of the electronic document with the Atomi Validator -service or by opening the file with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Validating the document with Atomi Validator

Atomi Validator is a validation service offered by Diak's e-signature service provider. You'll find Atomi Validator f. ex. on Diak's website at http://www.diak.fi/en/validation.

The service is easy to use. Change Validator language to English. Select the file from your computer or drag and drop it to the Validator in your browser window and click on Validate file.

Atomi Validator will inspect the document and - if the e-signature is a valid Diak signature and the document has not been altered - will validate its authenticity.

By opening the Detailed information section you'll also be able to confirm the signer information and the certificate used.

Validating the document with Acrobat Reader DC

The Adobe Acrobat Reader DC does not by default recognise the certificate provided by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), therefore the programme will tag the signature as unknown. You can add the DVV certificate to the trusted certificates list by following the directions at the end of this chapter.

You can also validate the document without adding the certificate to Acrobat Reader.

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC allows you to confirm the information of the e-signature.

  1. Find the e-signature on the document - in documents electronically signed by Diak this is Diak's seal.
  2. Open the Signature Validation Status by clicking on the seal.
    If you have not added the DVV certificate used to your trusted certificates list, the programme does not at this stage recognise the signer's identity. However, you can already see a confirmation if the document has not been modified after signing.
  3. Continue by selecting Signature Properties...
KUVA: signature validation status
  1. And select Show Signer's Certificate...
KUVA: signature properties
  1. In the Summary you can confirm the signer (1) and the certificate used (2).
KUVA: allekirjoittajan varmenne
Adding the DVV certificate

Add the DVV certificate to Acrobat Reader's trusted certificates list:

  1. Download the Digital and Population Data Services Agency certificate (VRK CA for Service Providers - G3) from their website https://dvv.fi/en/ca-certificates
  2. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
  3. Select Edit (Windows) or Adobe Reader -> Preferences (OSX)
  4. Select Signatures -> Identities and trusted certificates -> More...
  5. Select Trusted certificates -> Import
  6. Select Browse... and find the certificate you have just downloaded -> Open
  7. Select the certificate in the Contacts-window, select it again in the Certificates-window and click Trust...
  8. Mark Use this certificate as a trusted root in the opening pop-up window -> OK
  9. Finalise the process by clickin on Import.

Acrobat Reader has now added the DVV certificate to it's trusted certificates list and can recognise the signer's identity. You can still inspect the detailed signature properties by following the directions in the previous section.

KUVA: signature validation status after adding the certificate
Validating documents printed out on paper

If you need to validate the authenticity of an e-signed document printed out on paper, please contact Diak's study office ([email protected]).