Processing electronic documents with embedded digital signatures

In a system that receives electronic documents, a method for verifying an electronic document that has one or more embedded digital signatures, the method comprising acts of:

• identifying a reconstruct attribute for each of the one or more embedded signatures, wherein each of the one or more embedded signatures is in a signature block;
• selecting a particular embedded signature to verify, wherein the reconstruct attribute of the particular embedded signature is compared to the other reconstruct attributes;
• removing attribute data for those signature blocks whose reconstruct attribute indicates were added subsequently to the particular reconstruct attribute of the particular embedded signature during reconstruction of the electronic document;
• removing the particular embedded signature from a corresponding signature block such that the electronic document is reconstructed;
• and
• verifying the particular embedded signature and the electronic document if a hash of the reconstructed electronic document matches a decrypted value of the particular embedded signature.

In a system that uses electronic documents for generating and recording transactions, a signature module for embedding digital signatures in the electronic documents, the signature module comprising:

• a signature block, wherein the signature block has at least one reconstruct attribute that may be used to identify information that can be removed to reconstruct and verify an electronic document, said at least one reconstruct attribute comprising:
• a digital signature attribute that contains a digital signature of a user;
• a hash attribute that identifies a hash used to hash the electronic document;
• a timestamp attribute that is filled just before the digital signature of the user is generated such that the hash represented in the digital signature includes at least the timestamp;
• a signer attribute that identifies the user;
• a signer title attribute that identifies a title of the user;
• and
• a certificate attribute that contains a digital signature of a certificate authority for use in decrypting the digital signature of the user.

In a system that records documents, a method for recording electronic documents with embedded digital signatures, the method comprising acts of:

• receiving an electronic document from an originating server;
• performing a schema check and a profile check on the electronic document, wherein a failure notice is returned to the originating server if either the schema check or the profile check fails, wherein the electronic document is not recorded in the case of a failure;
• validating the electronic document by performing acts of:
• reconstructing the electronic document to a previous state by removing information from the electronic document, the removed information being identified by one or more reconstruct attributes corresponding with other embedded digital signatures;
• hashing the reconstructed electronic document to produce a hash;
• and
• comparing the hash with a decrypted value of the embedded digital signature such that the electronic document is validated if the hash
• matches the decrypted value;
• recording the electronic document by a recorder by inserting endorsement data;
• and
• digitally signing the electronic document by the recorder in a recorder signature block.

In a system that receives electronic documents, a method for verifying an electronic document that has one or more embedded digital signatures, the method comprising acts of:

• selecting a particular embedded signature to verify, wherein the particular embedded signature is in a particular signature block that can be identified by a reconstruct attribute;
• reconstructing the electronic document to a previous state by, based on information identified by one or more other reconstruct attributes, removing other signature blocks that were added to the electronic document after the particular embedded signature was generated, and removing the embedded signature from the particular signature block;
• and
• verifying the particular embedded signature and the electronic document if a hash of the reconstructed electronic document matches a decrypted value of the particular embedded signature.