With at most 130 euro, anyone can buy an electronic signature. Internet transactions, documents sent online to the State's authorities are just some of the new time and money saving solutions offered by modern technology.

The risks of fraud or theft is not excluded, but even larger on the Internet. The specialists have found a solution for this problem: the digital signature. It is like a "virtual ID" composed by the electronic identification datas of a person attached to a document.The electronic signature offers a maximum level of safety because it is elaborated by a complex mathematical algorithm that is almost impossible to break.

Safe files in the Internet thicket

How can we utilize the electronic signature? First of all, the companies can send official documents online to State institutions like ANAF, ONRC, the National Environment Protection Agency without losing time at the queues. Stock Exchange investors can send sale or purchase orders to SSIF.

The digital signature can be used instead of the hand made mark for all type of documents: official invitations, announcements, letters, contracts or simple e-mails. In the banking environment, the electronic signature guarantees the electronic payments security system.

Signature on mobile phones

A digital certificate is released in two-five daysand costs between 50 and 130 euro, depending on the supplier and contract details. After a year, the certificate must be updated and the cost will drop by 50%. Of the five suppliers from the Romanian market, only two are acreditated by law. The two companies, DigiSign and certSIGN, can release digital certificates that are valid in the court of justice.

If today the special device allows the electronic signature to be attached only on a PC or laptop, in the following years, mobile phones and PDA's will support the use of the signature too, said Adrian Florea, manager of development at certSign.

STEPS

How to sign online documents

1. Present your ID to a specialized company, that is obliged to confirm your identity.

2. Buy a security device necessary for the electronic signature. To access the device a PIN will be used.

3. Connect the device to your computer, access the suppling company website, fill out the digital certificate form. You will receive an e-mail with a security code that will release your certificate.

4. The digital certificate allows you to sign electronic documents.

FREE Last month of promotion at ANAF

The National Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF) releases, free of gharge, digital certificates, until the 30 of April. The agency wants to convince more companies to send their financial declarations online, a method that is quite unpopular among the economic agents. Starting this month, the Fisc accepts online declarations that are signed by authorized suppliers.