Section 4 in The Digital Signature (End entity) Rules, 2015
4. Creation of digital signature.
(1)The signatory shall, while signing an electronic record or any other item of information, first apply an hash function in the signatory's hardware or software.(2)The hash function shall produce a hash result.(3)The signatory's hardware or software shall then transform the hash result into a digital signature using signatory's private key and signature algorithm.(4)The contextual information like date and time, shall be then made part of the digital signature.(5)The counter signatures or parallel signatures or both may also be applied to electronic record.(6)The following information may also be a part of signature,-(a)the signatory's public key signature certificate(s);(b)the public key certificate(s) of the licensed Certifying Authorities which used to verify the authenticity of the digital signature certificate issued to the signatory;(c)the self signed certificate generated by the Controller used to verify the authenticity of the public key certificate of the licensed Certifying Authorities;(d)the certificate revocation list(s) maintained by the licensed Certifying Authorities, and the controller which is used to check whether the digital signature certificate has been revoked under section 38 the Act;(e)online certificate status protocol responder certificates and online certificate status protocol responses that may be used in lieu of certificate revocation list.(7)To create long term valid digital signature,-(a)a time stamp shall be applied initially to the signed data including the certificates and revocation information;(b)ensure that initial time stamp shall cover all the data and signature(s);(c)a nested time stamp option shall be used to ensure signature validity past the time stamping service provider's (tssp) key or algorithm expiry where the nesting of time stamps implies that a subsequent time stamp shall be applied to the prior time stamp;(d)signature(s) and time stamps may be embedded in the data itself or stored separately as standalone.
