Steps to become a Subscriber?

An applicant may have to perform the following steps before he becomes the subscriber of a Digital Signature Certificate:

Step1:

Approach the Registration Authority (PA)/Local Registration Authority (LCA), of a licensed Certifying Authority with a request to issue a Digital Signature Certificate.

Step 2:

Fill the application form for issue of Digital Signature Certificate and furnish the necessary documents. Also, select the kind of ‘Class’ Certificate required as each class of certificate provides specific functionality and security features. Verification requirements may differ with the type of ‘Class’ Certificate required.

Step 3:

Enter into a ‘Certifying Authority-Subscriber’ Agreement.

Step 4:

Applicant to generate signing key pair (signing private/public key pair) in a secure medium and prove the possession of private key corresponding to the public key.

Step 5:

After verifying (validation procedure) the relevant credentials the Registration Authority (RA)/Local Registration Authority (LRA) forwards the application to the licensed Certifying Authority.

Step 6:

After receiving the request, the licensed Certifying Authority generates the Digital Signature Certificate for the public key.

Step7:

Interestingly, according to the CPS version 3.0 of TCS-CA, the Digital Signature Certificate of the Subscriber shall be considered to be accepted by the Subscriber when the corresponding Subscriber downloads the Certificate.

Step 8:

Subscriber to verify the contents of the Digital Signature Certificate before he accepts it.

Step 9:

Upon acceptance, the Certifying Authority to publish the Digital Signature Certificate in its repository.