| Abstract: | Purpose – The objective of this paper is to investigate the legal and technical reasons why a
declaration of will, denoted by a digital signature, can be cancelled and how this cancellation can be
technically achieved.
Design/methodology/approach – Proposes a technical framework for establishing a signature
revocation mechanism based on special data structures, the signature revocation tokens (SRT), and
investigates the alternatives for disseminating the signature status information (SSI) to the relying
parties.
Findings – A relying party has to take into consideration the possible existence of a signature
revocation, in order to decide on the validity of a digital signature. A scheme based on a central public
repository for the archival and distribution of signature revocation tokens exhibits significant
advantages against other alternatives.
Originality/value – Identifies various intrinsic problems of the digital signature creation process
that raise several questions on whether the signer performs a conscious and wilful act, although he/she
is held liable for this action. The law faces the eventual right of the signer to claim a revocation of a
previously made declaration of will, especially in cases of an error, fraud |
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Greek