Customising electronic signatures

[rfdsa]

I need to create a signature that has no more than a 3-year expiry.  I also need the signature/certificate that also include a public and private key.

> Is this possible with Adobe Pro?

I have tried to create the signature but it always has a 5-year expiry and it does not seem to have a public key that I can export and send.

Thank you for any help.

PS if it helps the signature/certificate is required for the FDA.

[Bernd Alheit]

How does you create the signature? 

[rfdsa]

Under Edit > Preferences > Signatures

[Joel_Geraci]

If you are creating a "Self-Sign" Certificate using Adobe Acrobat, you have no control over the expiration date. If you absolutely need a certificate with a three-year expiration, you'll need to purchase one from a 3rd party vendor. That said, you can export a public key from a Self-Sign Certificate, or any other certificate by selecting Preferences, Signatures, then press the More button under Identities and Trusted Certificates.

However, the FDA may not accept a certificate created by you via Adobe Acrobat DC. I certainly wouldn't. There is no mechanism in Acrobat that verifies that you are, in fact, who you claim to be. Acrobat can only create a Class 1 certificate. You're probably better off getting more details as to the class level of a certificate the FDA will accept and use a vendor that supplies those. Be prepared to be annoyed. The validation process can be cumbersome.  

[rfdsa]

Thanks! Appreciate your input.

Sounds like the Adobe signature is not going to cut it <sigh>.

PS: already annoyed beyond belief...lol (still smiling though)

Thank you again!

[rfdsa]

I was not able to export the public key from the self-sign certificate...perhaps I am misunderstanding the whole concept.

[Bernd Alheit]

What happens when you export the public key?

[rfdsa]

Hello Bernd. I cannot export the public key. The intent is to share the public key with another person/business so that when they receive a digitally signed document from me they can trust that it is from me.

[Bernd Alheit]

What steps does you use to export the public key?

[rfdsa]

I followed the directions posted by Joel...

"you can export a public key from a Self-Sign Certificate, or any other certificate by selecting Preferences, Signatures, then press the More button under Identities and Trusted Certificates."

[Joel_Geraci]

Once in the "Digital ID and Trusted Certificate Settings" dialog, select a certificate and hit "Export". You can then either email it or save it to a local file.

[rfdsa]

Hi Joel. I have tried that approach. It does not give me the option to export the public key (or not private key) but directs to give it a file name.

I ws following instruactions on how to obtain the public key as a file but when i try it does not give me the step to choose.  It may have something to do with not being able to run the programs/settings as an admin.

Thank you for your efforts.

Oh well.  Looks like I am going to have to buy a subscription from a Certificate Authority.

[Joel_Geraci]

That's what exporting does. It saves the public key to a file that you can then share with others. They'd import the .FDF file into their copy of Acrobat.

Full instructions and an explanation is here

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/trusted-identities.html

[rfdsa]

Oh okay. When following directions from the interweb it was showing an additional step that did not appear when I tried. BTW the 5-year expiry is not acceptable. Unless I can change this as well as getting the public key, I will have to buy an additional subscription; I was so hoping that my existing subscription to Adobe Pro would have helped. Oh well.

[Joel_Geraci]

The 5-year expiry is far less of an issue than the fact that an Acrobat created certificate is essentially meaningless since your identity isn't verified. You'd need to get a class 2 or 3 certificate anyway.

[rfdsa]

Thanks. My thoughts were that if I have the private key and they have the public key then anything I send them through a secure gateway would verify that what I sent was from me...my layman's understanding of it. In order for any fraudulent activity they would have to get into my (secured) computer to get the private key then log into the secured gateway to send something through with malicious intent; what that intent would be is beyond me.

[Joel_Geraci]

You have that part correct once you've exchanged certificates. However, a class one certificate like Acrobat creates only demonstrates that you control the email address you used to send the certificate. It doesn't prove that you are who you say you are. That said, the FDA will accept a class one certificate and supplies a list of vendors at this url https://www.fda.gov/industry/about-esg/esg-appendix-c-digital-certificates#3