Small interest in electronic signatures – only 3,000 digital certificates issued so far

Three years have passed since the Law on electronic signature was passed in Serbia and only 3,000 digital certificates for electronic signatures have been issued.

- We mostly have contacts with companies, rarely physical persons, because people still don’t know that such thing exists and what it is for – says the Manager of Affairs of Certification Body of Postal Company Dušan Spasić.

Electronic signature is a set of information in electronic form, which are joined or logically connected with the electronic document, and they are used for identification of the signer.

Digital identity consists of cryptographic key of the users, public cryptographic key and the digital certificate. The first and the only public certification body that issues digital certificate in Serbia is the Certification Body of the Postal Company, which, in accordance with the Law, deals with that since November 16, 2004.

- Electronic signature is the substitute for personal signature. People are often wrong thinking that electronic signature is the scanned personal signature, while we are talking about cryptographic technology. It has three functions: reliably guarantees signer’s identity, prevents violation of integrity of electronic document (change in the signed document can not pass without notice) and it disables later denial of responsibility for the contents of the document – Spasić explains.

Digital certificates and secret cryptographic keys can be kept on the hard disk drive of the computer, diskette, CD, flesh disk, PKI smart card and PKI USB. Depending on the media they are issued on, the digital certificates cost between 650 and 5,000 RSD.