XML DIGITAL SIGNATURE ASIM REHMAN YURI ALEGRIA

Introduction What is a digital signature Digital signature provides a mechanism for assuring integrity of data, the authentication of its signer, and the nonrepudiation of the entire signature What is XML XML is a markup language that defines syntax and rules for using tags to structure information Why XML digital signatures The format used by older security technologies to implement security requirements is inappropriate for most XML Security applications XML languages are semantically rich and structured data, text- based, and Web-ready nature XML is being adopted widely for a growing variety of applications and types of content

Characteristics Joint effort between the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Can sign only specific portions of the XML tree rather than the complete document Can sign more than one type of resource Character-encoded data (HTML) Binary-encoded data (a JPG) XML-encoded data Specific section of an XML file

Types of Signatures Enveloping Signature Signed contents are placed within a signature itself. Signature wraps the item that is being signed Enveloped Signature Signature is embedded within the XML content that was signed Detached Signature Signature is stored separately from the signed content. Reference element in signature points to the location of the data

Structure of a Signature Jim Morrison T00:00:00 <CanonicalizationMethod Algorithm=“ <SignatureMethod Algorithm=“ <Transform Algorithm=“ eUPar59M28X1c1DNORnhmW0Z2Y= epyuHLJmyscoVMg2pZZAtZJbBHsZFUCwE4Udv+u3T thj6fJGH4wpw/danhTLj7fqOghdk3jfplbxsewHSVfjpeytvnd=