Lisha Chen-Wilson

Towards a Framework of a Secure E-Qualification Certificate System

we all receive paper based certificates during our study journey, but they are hard to manage to avoid damage or loss. The field of e-Learning provides technological developments, such as e-portfolios, which enable greater power and flexibility in displaying achievements. These may include on-line versions of certificates of the applicants attainment which overcome the limitations of paper-based versions. However, these “e-certificates” present a number of practical challenges, which so far have not been addressed, such as the validation of claimed e-qualification certificates. This paper addresses the issues, and explores the gap between current e-portfolio tools and the desired e-qualification certificate system. Through analysis of the existing systems and e-certificate use cases, we have identified existing services that can be reused and the services that require further development, thereby presenting an approach which solves the above problems. Preliminary results indicate that the recommendation from this research meets the design requirements, and could form the foundation of future e-certificate implementations.

“eCert” Improving the Security and Controllability of Digitally Signed Documents

Issues and technology gaps exist in the realm of secure transmission of electronic documents. In this chapter, we propose a working solution (“eCert”) to the problems identified. This has been developed by exploring a case study of an electronic qualification (eCertificate) system, by developing a prototype system, and by testing it within several popular ePortfolio systems. From this work, the underlying protocol (the “eCert protocol”) has been abstracted and applied to a different domain, that of electronic identity documents. The resulting “Mobile eID” application has also been produced and tested, potentially enabling a person to carry their identity documents on a mobile phone, while ensuring that such documents can be verified as correct and tamper-free. A significant issue in this work is that the protocol developed is user-centric. Thus, the user retains ownership and control of their documents, yet is unable to tamper with the document contents, mirroring the current situation with corresponding paper equivalents.