A Method of the Verification of the Long-term Electronic Signature Format in the Alteration of the System

Abstract

　We experienced the replacement of our long-term paper document management system in which the format of the long-term signature was changed from PAdES (defined for PDF files) to XAdES (defined for XML files). This change has not been reported so far in the medical informatics field. The greatest problem was how validation of the signature by PAdES could be verified in the XAdES system. The solution to this problem is summarized as follows: The document time stamp data and PAdES files were transferred to the new XAdES system and simultaneously converted into XAdES format. A tool to validate the conversion of PAdES data to the XAdES format was required and was subsequently developed and used to validate the data conversion. These operations allowed the long-term signatures to be secured. We conclude that this method could be helpful when changing the format of the long-term signature.