Index
Audit
Data authenticity
Proving that files and records have been made on a certain date and have not been tempered with afterwards can be very important. The issue of data integrity is particularly important for electronic records, as it is inherently easy to edit digital documents without a trace.
Digital signatures
This block of the program allows to prove the data in a folder or in a project existed at a specific point in time.
It operates by comparing two keys:
Key 1 = current key for a directory
Key 2 = pre-issued key, provided by a trusted third party that time-stamped the key upon receipt
Pre-issued key is generated either manually using digital signature module or automatically.
It is necessary to generate this reference key such that the date of its creation could be proven later. One option is to send the key by email, even to key creator's own email account on an independent email server (gmail.com).
The email will contain the digital key (Key 1) and the date and time the key was sent. Another option is to give/send the key to a legally compliant party/witness that could store the key, provide it later on demand and confirm the date the key was handed over.
For audit, Key 1 is recovered from any of the trusted locations. Key 2 is computed using the digital signatures module of Editor.
Only if both keys match, will the data be acknowledged to be unaltered. The key generation algorithm detects every modification in the data, such as an extra space character in one of the files or a single digit or letter altered in any document or a file within the keyed directory.
The key is generated using SHA1 and SHA512 hash functions used in industry standard security applications and protocols.
Data authenticity: Automatic Reporting
As of version 3.3, Biochemistry Lab Solutions can generate project reports and email reference keys fully automatically.