LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN - How do I know an electronic document has not been forged or altered?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=175 BGCOLOR="#A6CAF0" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="our_legal_information.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN Legal Inf"><U><B><IMG SRC="00d0d1d0.gif" border=0 width="13" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>© </B>2001 Elias M. Gordan</div> <div> All rights reserved</div> <bR> <div> <B>Law Office of</B></div> <div> <B>Elias M. Gordan</B></div> <div> Post Office Box 60</div> <div> Palos Park, IL  60464</div> <bR> <div> Phone  708.923.9735</div> <div> Email  gordanlaw@att.net</div> <div> Web    www.gordanlaw.com</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HOME PAGE LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN"><U><B>HOME</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN About Us"><U><B>About Us</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. 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Gordan</B></div> <div> <B>ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS AND DIGITAL SIGNATURES - II</B></div> <bR> <div>         Electronic communications and the Internet are transforming the way that business is being transacted, whether across the street or across the world.  Two major questions hindering the growth of electronic commerce have been</div> <div> - Are electronic documents legally binding?</div> <div> - How do I know an electronic document has not been forged or altered?</div> <div>         Recent new laws at the State and Federal levels are attempting to answer these questions.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>How do I know an electronic document has not been forged or altered?</B>  When you receive an important electronic message, you want to be sure of the message, and the party sending the message. This concern has been mostly addressed by the rise of secure Internet connections and public key encryption.  An SSL (Secure Socket Layer) connection (with the prefix “https://” instead of “http://”) allows for secure communication between a server, and a computer’s browser (such as “Internet Explorer” or “Netscape”).  The server provides the secure connection.</div> <div>         But what if a person wants to send a secure email to another person, and neither has a secure connection?  The answer under current technology has been <B>public key encryption</B>.  This form of encryption uses a complex mathematical function to generate a “digital signature” to an electronic document.  The sender prepares the document and adds a “private key”, a mathematical formula that encodes the document with a unique “signature” for the sender.  In addition, a “hash function” can generate a unique “hash result”, or “fingerprint”, for the document.  The private key and the “fingerprint” combine to form a “digital signature”.  </div> <div>         Upon receipt, the document can be verified with a “public key”, a mathematical formula designed to “unlock” a message, that has been “locked” with a matching private key.  A third party “certification authority” can certify that a specific public key is linked to a specific person and their private key (a “certificate”).  This proves that a specific person sent an electronic document.  An owner of a private key is responsible for protecting their “key”, much like a credit card or PIN (personal identification number).</div> <div>         Meanwhile, a second matching “hash function” can verify the content of the document, and assure that the document’s “fingerprint” was not altered in transit.  This is possible because a digital signature is unique to a particular sender <B>and</B> a particular message.  It is also possible to “time stamp” a particular document to establish when it was sent.</div> <div>         Using a public key/private key pair, a “secure electronic signature” can be established under Illinois law, if the parties agree to use this method, or if the third party certification authority is approved by the Illinois Secretary of State, and the third party certificate is found to be trustworthy.</div> <div> A secure electronic signature, in turn, can be used to show that a secure electronic record was created.  Both the record and the signature, then, could be presumed to be genuine.</div> <div>         The laws of other states may or may not address these issues.  Other States may address issues that Illinois law does not address.  E-SIGN does not cover means of authenticating electronic documents.  If in doubt, seek the advice of an attorney familiar with these issues.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >        For information on obtaining public/private key pairs, please visit the LLRX (Law Library Resource Xchange) at </FONT><A HREF="http://www.llrx.com/email/bibliography.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.llrx.com/email/bibliography.h"><U><B>http://www.llrx.com/email/bibliography.htm</B></U></A> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >Recent versions of “Microsoft Outlook” may also offer links to purchase these key pairs.</FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>RESOURCES</B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >1).  ABA “Digital Signature Guidelines”,</FONT> <A HREF="http://www.abanet.org/scitech/ec/isc/dsgfree.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.abanet.org/scitech/ec/isc/dsg"><U><B>http://www.abanet.org/scitech/ec/isc/dsgfree.html</B></U></A></div> <div> 2). Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), on the Penn Law Library Website, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/"><U><B>http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/ulc_final.htm#ueta</B></U></A><B> </B></FONT><B>. </B>Go to <B>NCCUSL</B> (National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws) on the Website.</div> <div> 3).  Illinois Electronic Commerce Security Act,  5 ILCS 175, available from <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.legis.state.il.us" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.legis.state.il.us"><U><B>http://www.legis.state.il.us</B></U></A><B> </B></FONT><B> </B>.  Go to <B>Illinois Compiled Statutes</B> on the Website, then go to <B>Chapter 5</B>, then to <B>5 ILCS 175/</B>.  There is no direct link available.</div> <div> 4).  Indiana Uniform Electronic Transactions Act,</div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.state.in.us/legislative/bills/2000/HE/HE1395.1.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.state.in.us/legislative/bills"><U><B>http://www.state.in.us/legislative/bills/2000/HE/HE1395.1.html</B></U></A></div> <div> 5).  E-SIGN, Public Law 106-229, available through <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.loc.gov" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.loc.gov"><U><B>http://thomas.loc.gov</B></U></A></FONT> .</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Law Office of Elias M. Gordan, </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.gordanlaw.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.gordanlaw.com"><U><B>http://www.gordanlaw.com</B></U></A></FONT><B> </B></div> <div> <B>Post Office Box 60, Palos Park, IL, 60464   </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="mailto:gordanlaw@att.net" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:gordanlaw@att.net"><U><B>email gordanlaw@att.net</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="our_legal_information.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LAW OFFICE OF ELIAS M. GORDAN Legal Inf"><U><B>BACK TO LEGAL INFORMATION PAGE</B></U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>