What is an eIDAS advanced electronic signature? Let us try to make this simple and help define what a proper signature meaning an "advanced" is according to the eIDAS regulation. Let's do this with a wet ink signing metaphor:
you need a pen, you need paper, and you apply a signature.
- Firstly, in the electronic world, a natural person (let's call her Jane) needs a personal pen tied to her and only her real identity. It's Jane's pen.
- Secondly, only Jane shall be able to access this pen. Think of the pen locked away in a box and only Jane having the keys to the box.
- Thirdly, if the content on the paper is tampered with, Jane's signature needs to show this. So think of the signature covering the content on the paper so that by tampering with the content, the signature will look different.
- Last but not least, if the content of the paper is modified, the signature will be invalidated so that no one will trust it by mistake. This sets forth the requirements from eIDAS on advanced signatures.
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