Digital Signature For e-Tender

Digital Signature Certificate and e-Tendering

e-Procurement facilitates, integrates, and streamlines procurement processes. From buyer to supplier and even back. Approved under the Information Technology Act, and with legal status, a Digital Signature Certificate is essential for all e-Procurement processes.
Applying for a government tender online has many advantages. Since documents are uploaded to a central site, acknowledgments and receipts are provided immediately. This is not the case with paper documents that need to be scanned and verified before being processed.
e-Procurement has gained significant popularity and acceptance as it brings greater transparency to the whole system. Among other benefits, it helps buyers and bidders overcome geographical limitations, reduce procurement cycles, and overall helps keep pace with present technology.
Any organization that is looking to apply for any Government eTender needs to have a Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate registered in the name of a representative who is authorized to submit online offers for e-Tendering applications.

Click here to get your Digital Signature Certificate

Why do I need a Digital Signature Certificate?

A Digital Signature Certificate authenticates your identity electronically. It also provides you with a high level of security for your online transactions by ensuring absolute privacy of the information exchanged using a digital certificate. You can use certificates to encrypt information such that only the intended recipient can read it. You can digitally sign information to assure the recipient that it has not been changed in transit, and also verify your identity as the sender of the message.

Where can I use Digital Signature Certificates?

You can use Digital Signature Certificates for the following:

• For secure email and web-based transactions, or to identify other participants of web-based transactions.
• To prove ownership of a domain name and establish SSL/ TLS encrypted secured sessions between your website and the user for web-based transactions.
• As a developer, for proving authorship of a code and retaining the integrity of the distributed software programs.
• For signing web forms, e-tendering documents, filing income tax returns, accessing membership-based websites automatically without entering a user name and password, etc.

For viewing the file contained in the certificate, open it. View Signatures by clicking on File > Info. Click on the down arrow next to a signature name and then click Signature Details to add that information.

There are several types of digital signature certificates (DSCs), namely, e-commerce certificates and regular paper certificates. A digital identity certificate is the same thing, enabling people to prove their identity electronically as they access information or services on the Internet. People can also digitize certificates when they want to sign documents, sign government contracts, or other forms.

Certificates of Digital Signature or capable certificates are issued by certifying authorities as required to validate and confirm the identity of the persons they have endorsed or vouched for.

Digital certificates bind the digital signature to a document, but a digital signature ensures that sensitive data/information won’t become corrupt or unusable after the issuance to the owner.

• You can select the type of entity you wish from the menu above.
• The next step is to fill out the necessary information.
• The third step consists of showing the reader the proof of identity.
• The 4th step is to pay DSC.
• Post the documents you need.

A Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) acts as the physical equivalent (digital equivalent) to a physical certificate, as long as it is issued in electronic format. Obtaining certificates can prove a person’s identity to a certain extent, such as when a driver’s license identifies someone who is legally permitted to drive a certain way.

• Within the Preferences dialog box, open the preferences file.
• Select Signatures from the Categories box.
• More can be verified by clicking Verification.
• With Verify Signatures When The Document Is Open you can have an automatic proofread and validate every signature in any PDF document upon open.

• Select the Options option in the Tools menu and then select your Digi-ID digital signature in Mozilla, Firefox, and Safari.
• The View Certificates button should be selected from the Encryption tab in the Options dialog box.

• Authenticating the signer is the first step.
• We must provide disclosures and consent.
• Signing a contract means that you are legally bound to it….
• It must be secured to protect you.
• This document should be accessible to all signers.
• Documentation is needed of all Actions taken.

Signing electronic documents with a digital signature involve a Certificate-based digital ID being used by the signer as evidence of their identity. the certificate is provided to signers by a Certification Authority (CA), as they verify that they are the authentic people.

Sec. 2000 gave rise to digital signatures by introducing IT Act, 2000. In other words, subscriber records are authentication under section (2) p (i.e. According to Sec. 140.10, a digital signature certificate (DSC) issued using this method is valid and effective for one year, upon completion, with no renewals required.

U.S. citizens can use electronic signatures. Signed by hand is legal in most states, yet handwritten signatures cannot be. The legal performance and efficiency of electronic signatures are comparable to the functions of handwritten signatures and paper documents in other industrialized countries.

• Using your logged-in user ID and password, go to the E-Filing portal.
• Please visit the Dashboard to go to the My Profile page.
• The third step in the process is to register your DSC on the left side.
• In Step 4, you will attach a DSC token’s email ID to it….
• The final step is selecting the Provider and Certificate.

A dealer user must print the information on forms 20-21 and the disclaimer number at RTO to submit the registration application. Selecting DEALER-PRINT-FORM-20-21/DISCLAIMER-RCPT in the Payments menu option, along with clicking on the Show Form button will confirm the dealership’s payment.

• With DocuSign, you can sign your documents and files with ease.
• If you’re looking to create your electronic digital signature certificate, HelloSign is here to assist you.
• You can personalize your PDF signing with the Smallpdf tools.

A digital certificate is an electronic image signed by an authorized agent that guarantees its authenticity and integrity, like a fingerprint or identification number. An identity certificate identifies its owner and can prove security to other people.

CAs (Certificates Authority) issue digital certificates as electronic documents. You should find it in your digital signature that is associated with the key, like an organization’s name. A certificate is used to verify that the publicly available key belongs to the organization with the certificate.

How to insert a signature into Microsoft Word

Inserting a signature into Microsoft Word is the perfect way to make your document appear more professional, as well as to provide a personal touch. Microsoft Word allows you to implement a digital signature for authenticity purposes, a handwritten signature, and a signature line that can be signed manually once the document is printed out.

Let’s take a look at how to insert a signature into Microsoft Word.

A signature line allows you to enter your signature on a predefined location on a Microsoft Word document, which is a convenient feature if you need to print a general document, a contract, or an official form. It can also be customized to provide specific instructions or additional information alongside the signature.

Step 1: Open your Word document, then click wherever you want the signature line to be added to.

Step 2: Click the Insert tab and then select Signature Line.

Step 3: Within the Signature Setup window that appears, type out all the details you want to show around the signature line. If the document is intended to be printed out and be signed by, say, an employee signing a contract, you can also include their details as well. Once you’re done, click OK.

Many may prefer to include their actual signature into the Word document electronically.

Step 1: Preferably on a white piece of paper, write your signature.

Step 2: Scan that piece of paper to convert it into an image file.

Step 3: On Microsoft Word, click the Insert tab and then select Pictures. Choose that image file from step 2 and click OK. Place the signature to your preferred location on the document.

If you want to further customize the image, use Microsoft’s built-in crop tool. Select the image, after which the Picture Tools Format tab will automatically be opened. Click Crop, and make the necessary adjustments. You can also make the image smaller or larger by modifying the size (click on the image and use the pointers that appear on the edges).

Another convenient feature that can complement a handwritten signature image or signature line is inserting additional information. This can be helpful if you want to include a point of contact such as an email, phone number, etc.

Step 1: Once your signature image has been added to the document, type any relevant information you wish to include under the image or signature line.

Step 2: Highlight both the image and the text located underneath.

Step 3: Click the Insert tab and then select Quick Parts.

Step 4: Select the Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery field, which will open the Create New Building Block window.

Step 5: Within the Name box, assign a name for your signature block. For the Gallery field underneath, choose the AutoText option from the drop-down list. Click OK.

Step 6: To insert this signature block that includes your signature and the text you inputted from step 1 to future documents, select where you want to add it on the document and head to the Insert tab. Click Quick Parts and then AutoText. Finally, select the name you set for the signature block from step 5.

Adding a digital signature into Microsoft Word verifies the owner of the document itself. To implement a valid digital certificate, it has to be connected to a trusted certificate authority (CA) — Microsoft recommends GlobalSign and IdenTrust on its support page. However, Word also allows you to create one yourself.

Step 1: Locate your Microsoft Office root folder on your system via Program Files and then Microsoft Office. Open the SELFCERT file within this folder, which will display a Create Digital Certificate window.

Step 2: Enter a name of your choosing in the provided box and click OK.

Step 3: Double click the signature line on your Microsoft Word document. Alternatively, right-click on it and click Sign. You’ll need to save the document first before you can add a digital signature.

Step 4: Enter your name or choose the Select Image box to use an image of your signature instead. The last section, Signing as should already include the certificate you just created. If not, select the Change button next to it and choose your certificate.

Step 5: Click the Sign button.

Your document will now be certified with a digital signature. It will remain valid providing no additional edits to the document are made. If you do modify the contents of the document, simply repeat the above steps to insert the digital signature certificate.

Why 80 Percent of NFTs Are Spam, Scams, and Fraud – And What You Can Do About It.

The world of digital can be a veritable minefield, especially when your company is trying to keep up with all those trendy ‘metaverse’ start-ups who seem to be nibbling away at your company with those bright ideas and agile innovative thinking.

NFTs – digital tokens, which emerged in 2014, can be thought of as certificates of ownership for virtual or physical assets.

NFTs have a unique digital signature so they can be bought and sold using traditional currency or cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin.

Traditional works of art such as paintings are valuable precisely because they are one of a kind, but digital files can be easily and endlessly duplicated.

With NFTs, artwork can be “tokenized” to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought and sold. The tokens can represent a range of real-world objects such as artwork, music, and videos.

Where Bitcoin has been hailed as a digital answer to currency, NFTs have been touted as the digital answer to collectibles, but plenty of skeptics fear they’re a bubble waiting to burst.

Van Baarle is a popular digital artist, with millions of followers on social media. She’s one of a growing number of artists who have had online images of their art stolen, minted as unique digital assets on a blockchain, and offered up to trade in cryptocurrency on the NFT platform OpenSea.

The open sea is one of the earliest and biggest trading platforms for NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and openly admits to the growing problem of digital fraud which is currently tracking circa 80% of sales being attributed to scammers on their platform.

OpenSea, one of the largest online NFT marketplaces — announced this week that a solid 80 percent of the NFTs minted through its free creation tool are spam, scams, or otherwise fraudulent.

Digital fraud is nothing new scammers and fraudsters will always find a way to part the gullible and greedy from hard-earned cash.

The murky world of ‘click farms’ and the inability of the programmatic technology to be able to combat it is an ongoing battle with many in the industry choosing to include it as ‘part of doing business, and at the last count that cost is currently running at $5.8bn, which is also seen by experts as just the tip of the ad fraud iceberg.

Current ad fraud forecasters see it continue to rise above $100bn+ by 2023 which is driven by the ongoing increase in streaming.

It’s the biggest Elephant in every single media agency’s board room, because even if they could audit it for you, it isn’t really in their business model interest to show you how they actually use the retainer to do what they do.

The reality is, no one really knows how big the problem is because of all the different vendors, data points, and channels, which will now include intrusive programmatic shitty adverts on your Smart TV and Set-Top Box, and at times it seems no one really cares.

Having been around in marketing for some time it sickens me to think that the whole industry knows there is a problem, but the spending continues. This is an industry that is also seeing a decline in the media marketing landscape, and this decline isn’t being driven by fraud. 

It’s being driven by ad-skipping, ad blocking, good old GDPR, and related data/privacy concerns from you and me.

So it’s no surprise that as NFTs that are being leveraged with those who own physical assets to convert them into digital tradable assets (NFTs) are also front and center for what is the new digital wild west of the emerging Metaverse where brands will become more susceptible to the unscrupulous.

In theory, blockchain technology was supposed to make it easier for digital artists to sell unique tokens of ownership, offering buyers a permanent record of ownership linked to the work.

Kenny Schachter, a New York-based video artist and art writer, embraced NFTs early and said he has made hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past year, after three decades working within an art world in which video art rarely sold.

“We’re in an incredible mushrooming of opportunity for digital artists,” said Schachter. “It’s 1,000% better than a year ago, two years ago, when there was no marketplace for any of this art.” source The Guardian

Then came the fraud:

DeviantArt has sent 90,000 alerts about possible fraud to thousands of their users, company executives said. It’s now scanning for fraud across 4m newly minted NFTs each week.

The number of alerts doubled from October to November, and grew by 300% from November to mid-December.

In December, bots began attacking the site, Moti Levy, DeviantArt’s chief operations officer said, scraping whole galleries of artists’ works. The pieces would later appear on NFT marketplaces, often with artists’ names and watermarks still attached.

The attacks have focused on DeviantArt’s most popular artists, measured by likes and comments, Levy said, rather than any particular aesthetic.

“Bots are bots,” he said.

Copyright infringement isn’t exactly new in the NFT space. Artists have been complaining about theft and hacking for months. Neither are scams.

They (Opensea) have a $13bn valuation and they’re trying to go public. How much of their valuation is from stolen art?

If someone gained access to your company bank account, then consistently stole 50-75% of the cash you kept putting in would you be happy, and just accept that it’s just part of doing business? Of course, you wouldn’t.

The point of crypto was to be decentralized, but it’s clearly not working out for talented artists and the buyers who purchase fraudulent or spammy NFTs.

Provenance and proof of ownership are required.

The current reporting process for artists whose stolen work is turned into NFTs is confusing and laborious, confirmed Ashli Weiss, a Silicon Valley lawyer who specializes in intellectual property and works with blockchain companies, adding that there is currently little incentive for OpenSea and other marketplaces to fix the problem. “OpenSea is getting paid with each transaction.” The Guardian

To ensure provenance requires a highly secure piece of technology, something that is fast, secure, scalable, convenient, built to mitigate risk with cyber security, and low cost for everyone involved in the buying and selling process.

This must be done to deal with the ongoing scalability and growth of NFT’s market, particularly where cryptocurrency is used for the purchase.

As with crypto-currency, a record of who owns what is stored on a shared ledger known as the blockchain.

The records cannot be forged because the ledger is maintained by thousands of computers around the world.

Van Baarle, the Dutch digital artist, said that she has seen OpenSea’s process for reporting art fraud improve somewhat over the past year. In the early months of trying to flag her stolen art on the platform, the site had a “report” button that never generated any response to her at all. By late December, she said, it had introduced a reporting form that made it substantially easier to log the fraud, and each attempt at least generated an email response.

“For a concept that is supposedly about authenticity, to me it looks like the opposite,” Van Baarle said. “From where I’m standing, it looks like one huge mess of theft and fraud and inauthenticity.”

What is needed is a simple ‘proactive’ one-click cyber-secure solution that allows the buyer to instantly verify the provenance and sales history around any NFT with a digital certificate that is stored and updated on the blockchain.

Multi-award-winning VCode® technology could be that solution.

It represents the next generation of code scanning technology – it’s a huge evolutionary leap past traditional barcodes and QR Codes. 

The group behind VCode has worked with governments and government bodies for the past 7 years generally around provenance in the supply chain and identity provisioning. Its ambassadors include multiple royal families, government officials,, and sports stars.

VCode is designed to include multiple forms of information to kickstart a transaction.

This transaction could be to display proof of original ownership and intellectual properties, including payment mechanisms and/or loyalty systems.

All use cases and appropriate supporting technology (either NFT owner or VCode) must respect and strictly adhere to principles of informed user consent to the processing of all personal data.

Today access to digital talent is everywhere, the ability to partner with innovative companies is a key business imperative so that commercial consumer-based innovation is welcomed and not blocked.

As many retail brands look to jump into the NFT hype there is no shortage of tech-enabled start-ups jumping in on this ‘bubble’ opportunity, and just like in the real world they’re made of up of chancers, blaggers, and fraudsters.

If you want to explore more around The Blockchain, Crytpo, and NFT I’m ready to talk.