Non-repudiation: Constituting evidence and proof in digital cooperation

Abstract

In digital cooperation, mechanisms and services have to be provided to account for actions and information to entities. Digital signatures are regarded as a means of establishing accountability, the property that ensures that the actions of an entity may be traced uniquely to that entity. However, to constitute proof of origin, submission, delivery and receipt, digital signature techniques have to be supported by certification, time stamping and notarisation techniques and services. The techniques providing proofs are called non-repudiation techniques. Working Group 2 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC27 (Security Techniques) is concerned with the standardization of security mechanisms and algorithms such as digital signatures. A new work item has been defined on non-repudiation techniques using asymmetric (digital signatures) as well as symmetric cryptographic techniques.