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Technical Whitepaper

Purposehis white paper is intended to provide the reader with a brie overview o relevant

document securit y issues and technologies, as well as to introduce the Adobe suite o documen

security solutions. Te white paper also summarizes Adobe implementations or documentcontrol and digital signatures.

Executive summaryAs organizations move more business processes online, protecting the confidentiality and

privacy o inormation used during these processes, as well as providing authenticity and

integrity, are essential. Because many automated processes rely on electronic documents that

contain sensitive inormation, organizations must properly protect these documents. Many

inormation security solutions attempt to protect electronic documents only at their storage

location or during transmission. However, these solutions do not provide protection or the

entire liecycle o an electronic document. When the document reaches the recipient, the

protection is lost, and the document can be intentionally or unintentionally orwarded to and

viewed by unauthorized recipients.

A significantly more eective solution is to protect a document by assigning security parameters

that travel with it. Six criteria must be met in order to provide more eective protection or an

electronic document throughout its liecycle:

Confidentiality

2 Authorization

Accountability

4 Integrity

5 Authenticity

Non-repudiation

Te two major security techniques used to establish these six document security criteria aredocument control and digital signatures.

Te Adobe suite o security solutions delivers document control and digital signature services that

simpliy the process o protecting sensitive electronic documents and orms. Organizations can

easily integrate Adobe document security solutions into current business processes and enterprise

inrastructure to support a wide range o simple and complex processes. Adobe solutions

dynamical ly protect electronic documents inside and outside the network, online and oine to

provide persistent, end-to-end protection throughout an electronic documents liecycle.

Table of contents

1 Executive summary

2 Introduction

3 How to provide persistentdocument security

4 Document control

4 Confidentialityencryption

5 Authorization

6 Accountability

6 Digital signatures

6 Integrity

7 Authenticity

7 Non-repudiation

7 Public key inrastructure

8 Adobe security solutions

for end-to-end document

protection

9 Summary o Adobe securitycapabilities

9 Adobe Acrobat and Adobe

Reader

10 Adobe LiveCycle Reader

Extensions

10 Adobe LiveCycle Rights

Management ES

11 Adobe LiveCycle Digital

Signatures ES

12 Summary o Adobe document

control implementation

12 Summary o Adobe digital

signature implementation

13 Partner integrations

13 Conclusion

13 Appendix: Adobe standardsand technology

A primer on electronicdocument securityHow document control and digital signaturesprotect electronic documents
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A primer on electronic document security

Introduction

As organizations move more business processes online, protecting the confidentiality and privacy

o the inormation used during these processes is essential . Because many automated processes rely

on electronic documents that contain mission-critical, personal, and sensitive inormation,

organizations must make significant investments to properly protect these documents.

Tere are three main reasons that organizations need to address the security o electronically

shared documents:

Regulatory requirementsMany companies are directly or indirectly aected by governmentmandates and regulations or providing consumer privacy. Tese include:

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)Protection or health-related data

Gramm-Leach-Bliley ActFinancial privacy

European Union Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications

Privacy Acts o Japan and Australia

Caliornia SB 8Privacy notification

Caliornia AB 50Protection o customer data

Return on investment (ROI)Organizations can achieve significant ROI by migrating to

electronic business processes. Automated workflows allow prospects, customers, partners, andsuppliers to part icipate, enabling organizations to reap significant cost savings while improving

customer satisaction and loyalty. However, many workflows cannot be automated until

adequate protections are put in place on the electronically shared inormation. For instance, how

can you be sure that the bank statement you received is truly rom your bank (authenticity), that

it has not been altered in transit (integrity), and that it has not been viewed by someone other

than the intended recipient (confidentiality)?

Inormation securityTes o proprietary inormation are increasing, which can jeopardize

revenue, competitive advantage, and customer relationships; generate negative publicity; and

result in significant penalties and fines or ailure to comply with privacy laws.

Many inormation security solutions attempt to protect electronic documents only at

their storage location or during transmission. For example, organizations rely on document

management systems and virtual private networks (VPNs) to protect documents. With this

approach document security remains a problem because these solutions secure only the

communication line or storage site; they do not provide protection or the actual content o an

electronic document throughout its liecycle. When the document reaches the recipient, the

protection is lost, and the document can be intentionally or unintentionally orwarded to and

viewed by unauthorized recipients. Consequent ly, many organizat ions are orced to engage in an

inconsistent combination o online and paper processes in which sensitive documents must still

be printed and physically delivered to achieve adequate security. As a result, the potential

benefits o online processing cannot be ully realized.


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How to provide persistent document security

A significantly more eective solution or protecting an electronic document is to assign security

parameters that are an integral part o the document itsel. Te ollowing criteria define

persistent document security:

ConfidentialityWho should have access to the document?

AuthorizationWhat permissions does the user have or working with the document?

AccountabilityWhat has the recipient done with the document?

IntegrityHow do you know i the document has been altered?

AuthenticityHow do you know where the document came rom?

Non-repudiationCan the signatory deny signing the document?

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Document control provides confidentiality, authorization, and accountability. The illustration above shows some o the

document control options available with Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server and Adobe Acrobat sotware.

Te ollowing sections survey the major technologies used to provide document control and

digital signatures and identiy the technologies Adobe has implemented or its document

security solutions.

Document control plus digital signatures

means persistent document security


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Document controlConfidentialityencryption

Encryption is the process o transorming inormation (plaintext) into an incomprehensible

orm (ciphertext). Encryption is an eective technique or managing document access.

Decryption is the reverse process that transorms ciphertext back to the original plaintext.

Cryptographyreers to the two processes o encryption and decryption and its implementation

is reerred to as a cryptosystem.

Popular encryption systems use the concept o keys. An encryption key is data that combineswith an encryption algorithm to create ciphertext rom plaintext and recover plaintext rom

ciphertext. oday, security experts widely agree on Kerckhos principle as the basis o an

eective cryptosystem. Kerckhos principle states that the key is the only portion o a

cryptosystem that must remain secret or the entire system to be secure. I the strength o the

cryptosystem relies on the act that an attacker does not know how the algorithm works, then it

is just a matter o time beore it can be reverse-engineered and broken.

wo main types o encryption keys include symmetric and asymmetric.

Symmetric keys

Symmetric key cryptography uses the same key or both encryption and decryption and is very

ast and dicult to break with large keys. However, because both parties need the same key or

eective communication to occur, key distribution becomes an issue. oday, common

symmetric key encryption algorithms are AES, DES, DES, and RC4. Adobe products leverage

AES (28- and 25-bit) and RC4 (28-bit), as they have evolved into very strong standards.

Asymmetric keys

Asymmetric key cryptography, also ca lledpublic key cryptography, uses key pairs or encryption

and decryption. For instance, i the first key encrypts the content, then the second key o the pai

decrypts the content. Similarly, i the second key is used to encrypt the in ormation, then the

first key must be used to decrypt the content.

ypically, one key in the pair is labeled as the public key and the other as the private key. An

individual keeps the private key secret, while the public key is reely distributed to others who

wish to communicate with the individual. When someone wishes to send the individual a

confidential message, he or she can encrypt it with the reely available public key and send the

ciphertext to the individual. Because the individual is the only one who has the private key, he or

she is the only one who can decrypt the content.

Asymmetric keys help solve the key distribution problem, but the algorithms tend to be slower

or equivalent strengths. Some common asymmetric algorithms are RSA, DSA, and El Gamal.

Adobe leverages RSA (52-, 024-, and 2048-bit) as it has evolved into a global standard.

Hybrid Encryption

Security systems tend to use a hybrid solution to increase the security and speed o encrypting

documents. One approach is to use asymmetric keys to protect the symmetric keys, and then use

the symmetric keys or encrypting the inormation. Tis technique helps to solve both the key

distribution challenge o symmetric key cryptography while solving the perormance problem o

asymmetric key cryptography. Adobe Acrobat soware leverages hybrid approaches so single

documents can be protected or multiple recipients, each possessing unique key pairs. Te file

size is not significantly increased during this method because the entire document does not need

to be encrypted or each person. Instead, the document is encrypted with a single symmetric key

and that symmetric key is encrypted or each recipient with their respective public key.


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Authorization

In addition to managing who can open a document, organizations gain additional protection

through authorization. Authorization specifies what a user can do with a document and is

achieved via permissions and dynamic document control.

Permissions govern a users actions while working with a protected document. Permissions

can speciy whether or not a recipient who has access to the document is allowed to print or

copy content, fill in fields, add comments or annotate the document, insert or remove pages,

orward the document, access the document ofne, digital ly sign the document, and so orth.

Dynamic document control maintains access rights and permissions assigned to an electronic

document once it has been published and distributed. A documents author can make changes

to a released document without having to manually redistribute it since the changes are

automatically pushed to all existing versions o the document no matter where they reside.

Using dynamic document control, organizations can manage and monitor electronic

document use inside and outside the firewall, online and ofne, and across multiple document

Dynamic document control includes the ollowing capabilities:

Document expiration and revocationPost-publication document control can

be maintained through the application o expiration dates and the ability to revoke access to a

document. For example, an author can send a document that will expire in two weeks so that

recipients will not be able to access it once the expiration date has passed. Or, access to a

document can be automatically revoked i an authorized recipient leaves the project or changesdepartments.

Ofne access managementOrganizations can manage how long an authorized recipient can

access a document ofne. Once the specified length o time has passed, the recipient can no

longer view the document and must go back online to gain urt her access. Any access or

permission changes that the author has made to the distributed document will be applied when

the recipient goes back online.

Persistent version controlContent and document management systems provide an eective

mechanism or version control as long as a document stays within the confines o the system.

Persistent version control expands on these capabilities by maintaining version control outside

the system and ofne. It allows document authors to make changes to a documents usage

policies and prevent the obsolete version rom being accessed while providing end users with

the location o the updated version, no matter where the document resides.

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Authorization is achieved via permissions and dynamic document control. These are some o the authorization options

and levels o dynamic document control available with Adobe Acrobat and Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server.


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Accountability

Document auditing allows organizations to maintain accountability with regard to t he use o

protected documents, because they can know precisely:

How a recipient has used a document

How oen each type o usage occurred

When that usage occurred

Accountability is achieved when an author can track each recipients use o a document or each

permission assigned (such as allowing a user to fill in fields on a orm, print, orward, save a copy

and so orth.) Auditing should include automatic notifications about the use o protected

documents. For example, a customer service representative sends a customer a t ime-critical

electronic statement that requires an action on the customers part, such as a reply or digital

signature. Once the customer receives the electronic document, the representative is

automatically notified when the customer opens it. I the customer ails to open the document,

the representative is notified aer 24 hours. Alternatively, a customer relationship management

(CRM) system can leverage ailure notification to initiate an escalation or specific ollow-up task

by the customer service representative.

Digital signaturesWhen enterprises distribute documents electronically, it is oen important that recipients can veriy:

Tat the content has not been altered (integrity)

Tat the document is coming rom the actual person who sent it (authenticity)

Tat an individual who has signed the document cannot deny the signature(non-repudiation)

Digital signatures address these security requirements by providing greater assurances o

document integrity, authenticity, and non-repudiation.

Integrity

Digital signatures enable recipients to veriy the integrity o an electronic document that is used

in one-way or round-trip workflows. For example, when a digital signature is applied to a

quarterly financial statement, recipients have more assurance that the financial inormation has

not been altered since it was sent. Methods or maintaining integrity include:

Parity bits or cyclical redundancy checking (CRC) unctionsCRC unctions work well or

unintentional modifications, such as wire intererence, but they can be circumvented by aclever attacker.

One-way hashA one-way hash creates a fixed-length value, called the hash value or message

digest or a message o any length. A hash is like a unique fingerprint. With a hash attached to

the original message, a recipient can determine i the message was altered by recomputing the

hash and comparing his or her answer to the attached hash. Common hashing algorithms are

MD5, SHA-, and SHA-25. Adobe has adopted the SHA- and SHA-25 algorithms because o

their wide acceptance as a security standard.

Message Authentication Codes (MAC)A MAC prevents an attacker rom obtaining the

original message, modiying it, and attaching a new hash. In this case, a symmetric key is

connected to the MAC and then hashed (HMAC). Without the key, an attacker cannot orge a

new message. Adobe uses HMACs where appropriate.

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Digital signatures veriy

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electronic document


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Authenticity

Digital signatures provide document authenticity by veriying a signers digital identity. For

example, a digitally signed quar terly financial statement allows recipients to veriy the identity o

the sender and assures them that the financial inormation has not been a ltered since it was sent

Digital signatures are created using asymmetric key cryptography. For document encryption, a

documents author encrypts a document using a public key. Because the recipient is the only

person with the private key, he or she is the only one who can decrypt the message. Digital

signatures reverse the use o public and private keys or document authenticity. Te author

encrypts the hash o the message with a private key. Only the public key can correctly decrypt

the hash and use it to see i it matches a new hash o the document. Because recipients o the

document have the authors public key, they gain greater assurances that the individual who

signed the document was the person who encrypted the original hash.

he process that constitutes a digital signature is as ollows:

A hash is created o the original document.

Te digital signature is created, which encrypts the hash with a private key.

Te signature is included with the document.

Adobe Acrobat supports multiple digital signatures placed anywhere in the document or proper

presentation. In act, Adobe Acrobat tracks all previously signed versions within the documen

or easy verification o changes made during the documents liecycle. Furthermore, Adobe oers

a certified signature, which is the first signature on the document. With a certified signature,the author can speciy what changes are allowed or integrity purposes. Adobe Acrobat will then

detect and prevent those modifications.


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Digital signatures veriying a signers digital identity

Adobe Acrobat tracks all previously signed

versions within the document or easy

verification o changes made during the

documents liecycle

Non-repudiation

Non-repudiation is a document security service that prevents the signor o the document rom

denying that they signed the document. Support or this serv ice is oen driven by authentication

and time-stamping capabilities.

Public key infrastructure (PKI)

Public key inrastructure (PKI) mainly provides a digital certificate that enables a documents

recipient to know whether or not a specific public key really belongs to a specific individual.

Digital certificates bind a person (or entity) to a public key. Certificate authorities (CA) issue

these certificates and recipients must trust the CA who issued the certificate. X.50 is the widely

accepted certificate standard that Adobe uses.

I a certificate expires or a private key is compromised, the CA will revoke the cert ificate and

record the revocation. As part o the process o authenticating a digital certificate, recipients

can check the certificates status. Certificate validity can be checked using the ollowing

standard methods:

Certificate revocation list (CRL)

Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)

Adobe uses both CRL and OCSP.


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Te ollowing additional mechanisms can make up a PKI:

Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS)A set o standard protocols or PKI used by

multiple vendors. Te standards include RSA encryption, password-based encryption,

extended certificate syntax, and cryptographic message syntax or secure multipurpose

Internet mail extensions (S/MIME).

Registration authorityUsed to run background checks on individuals who wish to obtain

a certificate.

Certificate repositoryRepositories that house digital certificates.

Key update, backup, recovery, and historyMechanisms or key maintenance and archiving. Cross-certificationIn the absence o a single global PKI, which is highly unlikely, this

mechanism allows users rom one PKI to validate certificates rom users in another trusted PKI.

Time stampingA critical component o non-repudiation that oers a time stamp rom a

trusted third party.

Adobe has been delivering persistent

document security solutions for more

than ten years

In partnership with leading security vendors,

Adobe has been delivering persistent

document security solutions or more than

ten years. Since Adobe Acrobat was

introduced in 1994, Adobe has enabled

organizations to more successully manage

electronic document use by encry pting

Adobe PDF files and assig ning user access

permissions. Beginning in 1999, Adobe

Acrobat 4.0 oered organizations the ability

to apply digital signatures to Adobe PDF files

or greater assurance o document

authenticity, integrity, and non-repudiation.

Adobe security solutions or end-to-end document protection

A significantly more eective solution or protecting an electronic document is to assign security

parameters that are an integral part o the document itsel. Tis approach dierentiates the

Adobe document security solutions, which enable organizations to more eectively manage theuse o electronic documents with persistent protection. By applying security parameters to the

individual document, organizations gain greater assurance in the confidentiality, authenticity,

and integrity o electronically shared documents in addition to securing the communication line

or storage location.

As organizations accelerate online processing, Adobe security solutions deliver document

control and digital signature services t hat simpliy the process o protecting sensitive electronic

documents and orms. Because Adobe solutions are designed to protect electronic documents

inside and outside the network, online and ofne, organizations can more easily extend the use

o electronic processes to reduce costs or sharing inormation and increase customer

satisaction and loyalty. It is important to note that security is not an all or nothing proposal.

Security proessionals must practice proper risk mitigation when evaluating solutions or their

organizations. Adobe helps with this endeavor by oering a wide range o support rom solutionsor simple assurance levels, such as click-wrap agreements, personal identification numbers

(PINs), and passwords to those requiring stronger assurance levels, such as soware PKI, two-

actor authentication with tokens, or three-actor authentication with biometrics.

Adobe document security provides persistent, end-to-end protection throughout an electronic

documents liecycle, including desktop solutions that make it easy or every user in an

organization to protect documents and server-based solutions that automate the application and

monitoring o document protection on an enterprise-wide basis. Whether e-mailing monthly

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Digital signatures address security requirements by providing greater assurances o document integrity, authenticity,

and non-repudiation.


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statements, making tax orms available on citizen porta ls, sending design documents to

partners or review, approving loan applications, or preparing financial reports, Adobe helps

organizations conduct these processes with greater assurance o document confidentiality,

integrity, authenticity, non-repudiation, and accountability.

Summary of Adobe security capabilities

Adobe AcrobatFamily*

Adobe Reader Adobe LiveCycleReader Extensions

ES

Adobe LiveCycleDigital Signatures

ES

Adobe LiveCycleRights Management

ES

Quickly create secure

documentsrom native

applications

Use the ree, cross-

platorm solution to

view and interact with

protected documents

Easily share protected

interactive Adobe PDF

documents with

external parties

Automate the process

o encrypting and

digitally signing

thousands o

electronic documents

Dynamically apply

document usage rights

to manage use online,

oine, inside the

network, and outside

the network

Encrypt/decryptdocuments usingshared passwords, PKI,and Adobe LiveCyclePolicy Server sotware

Validate recipientsdigital signatures

Activate additionalunctionality in theree Adobe Readerto enable ofne ormfilling and digitalsignatures

Encrypt/decryptdocuments usingshared passwordsand PKI

Manage printing,content copying, ormfilling, digital signatureuse, screen readeraccess, review andcomment use, pageinsertion, deletion, androtation

Apply and validaterecipients digitalsignatures

Veriy author-certifieddocuments

Automatically applydigital signatures

Manage online andofne access

Create and veriyauthor-certified

documents

Apply recipient digitalsignatures

Automatically veriydigital signatures

Includes server andclient extensions or

PDF, Word, and Excel

Manage printing,content copying, ormfilling, digital signatureuse, screen readeraccess, review andcomment use, pageinsertion, deletion, androtation

Support or MicrosotCryptoAPI on Windows

Create and veriyauthor-certifieddocuments

Revoke access aterdistribution

Support or MicrosotCryptoAPI (MSCAPI)on the MicrosotWindows operatingsystem

Decrypt documentsusing sharedpasswords, PKI, andAdobe LiveCycleRights Management ESsotware

Support or HardwareSecurity Modules(HSMs) using PKCS#11

Establish time controlsor access

Pre-built support orVeriSign credentials inAdobe Reader

Audit user actions

Support or FIPS mode Leverage existingauthenticationinrastructure(LightweightDirectory AccessProtocol [LDAP]/Active Directory) ordocument control

* Includes Adobe Acrobat Proessional, Adobe Acrobat Standard, and Adobe Acrobat Elements. Not all security eatures are available in allproducts.

Requires documents to be rights-enabled with Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions ES.

Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader

Document authors can use Adobe Acrobat soware to create Adobe PDF documents, and apply

encryption, permissions, and digital signatures to Adobe PDF files. Te ease and convenience o

assigning security parameters to electronic documents via Adobe Acrobat encourages users to

keep inormation private and confidential.

Protected Adobe PDF documents can be viewed using ree Adobe Reader soware. With more

than 00 million copies distributed worldwide, Adobe Reader provides multi-platorm access to

Adobe PDF files, enabling organizations to share secured documents with users outside the

firewall and on a wide variety o client computers. Adobe Reader users can view protected

documents, validate digital signatures, and veriy document certification. In addition, when

documents are rights-enabled via Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions ES, Adobe Reader users

can digita lly sign Adobe PDF files.

Document control and digital signature

capabilities are built into the Adobe Acrobat

interace, making it easy or users to add

security parameters to documents


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1A primer on electronic document security

Adobe PDF, the Portable Document Format, is a general document representation language that

has been in use or document exchange on the Internet since . RFC 8 provides updated

inormation on t he registration o the MIME Media ype application/pd, with particular

ocus on the eatures that help to mitigate security concerns.

Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions ES

Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions ES enables organizations to extend the use o automated

business processes to participants who are outside the network and using disparate client

technologies. Using Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions ES, organizations embed usage rights in

Adobe PDF files that will activate unctionality within Adobe Reader soware. Tis hidden

unctionality is automatically activated when the Adobe Reader user launches a rights-enabled

Adobe PDF document. When the user is finished working with the document, those unctions

are once again disabled until the user receives another rights-enabled PDF file.

Rights-enabled Adobe PDF files allow users o Adobe Reader to save the file to a local hard drive,

fill it out, add comments and mark up content, share it with others, and submit a completed

document electronically. In addition, Adobe PDF files can be rights enabled to allow users to

digitally sign, cert iy, and authenticate a document. As a result, organizations can easily include

Adobe Reader users in simple and complex business processes that provide greater

assurance o document authenticity and confidentiality or users outside the network.

Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES

Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management soware is a document control solution that addresses the

challenges o managing access to and use o electronic documents on an enterprise-wide basis.

Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management soware oers a platorm-independent solution or

dynamic, persistent, and robust document policy management. Adobe LiveCycle Rights

Management soware manages three aspects o document securityconfidentiality,

authorization, and accountability.

Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES provides a solution or assigning and managing access rights

and user permissions

1 2 3 4

Author Manage View

1. Create lesin nativeapplications

2. Create Adobe PDFfrom native le

3. Add protection

with AdobeLiveCycle RightsMangement ES

4. Authenticate &authorize forpublic viewingusing AdobeReader andAdobe Acrobat

Adobe

LiveCycle

Rights

Management ES

Adobe LiveCycle Rights Mangement ES capabilities include the ollowing:

Persistent access managementAdobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES provides all o thepersistent document control eatures available with Adobe Acrobat. Security policies

established on the server can include access rights and user permissions. Document authors

simply select the appropriate policy stored on the server to be applied to an Adobe PDF

document.

Dynamic security policy managementAdobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES provides

dynamic policy management so that organizations can manage document access and use aer

an Adobe PDF file has been published and distributed. Authors can update a security policy

stored on the server to change any o the user permissions, add recipients, expire documents,

With more than 700 million copies distributed

worldwide, Adobe Reader sotware provides

cross-platorm access to Adobe PDF files,

enabling organizations to share protected

documents with users outside the firewall and

on a wide variety o client computers

Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES oersa multi-platorm solution or dynamic,

persistent, and robust document

policy management


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revoke previous recipients access rights, and so orth. When a document recipient is oine,

any changes are automatically applied to the document when the recipient contacts Adobe

LiveCycle Rights Mangement ES again.

Network independenceWhether used online or oline, inside or outside the network,

the security policy applied to an Adobe PDF file remains.

Document auditingAuthors can easily monitor use o protected Adobe PDF documents with

Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES auditing capabilities. For each user permission

assigned to a document, Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES sotware provides a detailed

audit trail that keeps track o what each recipient did with the document, when, and how oten.

Enterprise integrationAdobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES sotware can be integrated

with current user administration and content management technologies or cost-eicient,

centralized document control administration. It can access ex isting LDAP and Active

Directory implementations to check recipients credentials, and it can maintain a security

policy assigned to a document in a content management system and wherever the document

travels.

Integration with Adobe LiveCycle productsAdobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES

sotware provides an Adobe Document Service that can be used by other Adobe LiveCycle ES

server products to acilitate automated workflows. Organizations can expand use o cost-

eective automated business processes with greater assurances that documents are more

eectively protected and regulatory requirements or maintaining in ormation privacy can bemet.

Integration with Adobe Acrobat and Adobe ReaderAuthoring and viewing protected

documents is simple and convenient. Authors can assign document control policies to

documents with the same controls they use to create Adobe PDF files rom popular

applications such as Microsot Word. Recipients can access Adobe LiveCycle Rights

Management EScontrolled PDF iles with the Adobe Reader Mac OS, Microsot Windows,

or Linux client platorms.

Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures ES

Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures ES soware enables organizations to bring more paper-based

processes online by providing digital signature and encryption capabilities in a server

environment, thus eliminating the need to manually open each file and add or veriy digital

signatures. With Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures ES, organizations can eciently integrate

protected electronic documents with core systems and existing workflows. Adobe LiveCycle

Digital Signatures ES soware automates the processes o:

Digitally signing and certiying Adobe PDF files

Validating digital signatures applied to Adobe PDF files

Encrypting and decrypting Adobe PDF files

Integrating with a Hardware Security Module or added security capabilities and perormance

Enterprises can process Adobe PDF documents with digital signatures rom third-party vendors

to enable large volumes o certified documents in batch (or bulk) on the server. Beore a

transaction is processed, Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures ES soware opens the document

and validates it based on signature status. Tis validation includes determining whether or not adocument has been altered and whether or not it was really approved by the person who signed it

Since Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures ES soware can validate any Adobe PDF file regardless

o its use inside or outside the network, it enables organizations to extend automated processes

beyond the firewall to include customers, partners, and constituents while meeting corporate

and government regulations or protecting the privacy o electronic inormation.

For organizations that have deployed a PKI, Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures ES soware

provides encryption and decryption capabilities. Documents that are automatically generated

can be automatically encrypted or distribution and encrypted documents that are submitted to


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Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures ES can be automatically decrypted. Tese capabilities allow

enterprises to leverage existing technology investments in PKI and smart card solutions to

provide enhanced document protection. In addition, Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures ES

soware is the only solution that provides bulk digital signature capabilities or Adobe PDF files

using HSMs.

Summary of Adobe document control implementation

Te ollowing table summarizes the Adobe document control capabilities and the technologies used

Control Type Control Mechanism Technologies

Encryption Symmetric algorithm AES (128- and 256-bit)

RC4 (128-bit)

3DES

Asymmetric algorithm RSA (up to 2048-bit)

Authorization Document permissions

(modifications and use)

No changes allowed

Any changes except extracting pages

Fill in orm fields

Comment and annotate

Digitally sign

Insert, delete, and rotate pages

Copy text, images, and other content

Enable text access or screen reader devices or the visually impaired

No printing allowed

Low-resolution printing only (150 dpi)

High-resolution printing

Dynamic document

control

Modiy permissions ater publication and distribution

Expire and revoke distributed documents

Manage oine access

Enorce content management system security policies outside system

Accountability Auditing Know how recipient has used document

Know when usage occurred

Know how oten usage occurred

Summary of Adobe digital signature implemention

Te ollowing table summarizes the Adobe digital signature capabilities and t he technologies

used in their implementation:

Control Type Control Mechanism Technologies

Integrity One-way hash SHA-1 and SHA-256 algorithms

MD5

MAC/HMAC HMAC support with symmetric keys and SHA-1

Aut he nt ici ty D igi ta l s ign at ure s May be applied to any Adobe PDF document

Partnerships with leading digital signature vendors

PKCS #1, #7, #11, and #12

RSA (512-, 1024-, and 2048-bit)

DSA

Long-term signature validation support

Seed values (enorcement o certificate usage criteria)

eXtensible Markup Language (XML) signatures

MSCAPI support

Certificate val idity check Cert ificate revocat ion list

Online Certificate Status Protocol (uture)

Nation Institute o Standards and Technology (NIST) Public KeyInteroperability Test Suite (PKITS)

MSCAPI support

Non-repudiation Supported with authentication

and time-stamping

Adobe ollows RFC 3161


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Partner integrationsAdobe has partnered with leading g lobal organizations to help provide an eective document

security environment. Whether digital signatures requiring certificates, certificate authorities,

smart cards, HSMs, or dynamic document control requiring authentication via LDAP providers,

databases, or integration services, Adobe and its partners can solve specific business needs that

require secure solutions. For more inormation about Adobe security partners, please visit:

http://partners.adobe.com/security.

ConclusionTe use o sensitive and mission-critical inormation in electronic processes is essential

or thousands o businesses and government agencies. Adobe security solutions leverage

standards-based techniques or document control and digital signatures to provide eective

solutions that enhance the privacy and confidentiality o electronic documents and orms.

With a comprehensive set o desktop- and server-based solutions, Adobe oers convenient, easy-

to-use document security capabilities that encourage users to keep inormation private and help

organizations meet the strictest regulations or sharing inormation elect ronica lly. Adobe

security solutions enable organizations to replace paper-based business processes with electronic

processes to reap the benefits o improved operational eciency, reduced costs, and increased

customer and constituent satisaction.

Appendix: Adobe standards and technologyAESAdvanced Encryption Standard is an encryption algorithm used by U.S. governmentagencies or securing sensitive but unclassified material.

Authentication TokenA small hardware device that the owner carries to authorize access to anetwork service. Te device may be in the orm o a smart card or may be embedded in acommonly used object such as a key ob. Security tokens provide an extra level o assurancethrough a method known as two-actor authentication. Te user has a personal identificationnumber that authorizes him or her as the owner o that particular device; the device thendisplays a number which uniquely identifies the user to t he service, allowing t he user to log in.Te identification number or each user is changed requently, usually every five minutes or so.

CAA certificate authority is an authority in a network that issues and manages securitycredentials and PKI or message encryption and digital signatures. As part o a PKI, a CA checkswith a registration authority (RA) to veriy inormation provided by the requestor o a

digital certificate. I the RA verifies the requestors inormation, the CA can then issue a certificate.CAPI/MSCAPICommon Application Programming Interace is an international standardinterace that applications can use to communicate directly with ISDN equipment. Using CAPI,an application program can be written to initiate and terminate phone calls in computers equippedor ISDN. MSCAPI is the Microso implementation.

Certificate (X.509)A common certificate ormat used in PKI systems.

CP/CPSA certificate policy and certification practice statement explain the practicesemployed by a CA to provide certification services including issuing, managing, revoking,and renewing certificates.

CRL (RFC 3280)Certificate revocation list is one o two common methods (OCSP is the other)when using a PKI or maintaining access to servers in a network.

CSPCryptographic Service Provider

FIPSFederal Inormation Processing Standards are a set o standards that describe documentprocessing, provide standard algorithms or searching, and provide other inormation processingstandards or use within government agencies.

KerberosKerberos is a secure method or authenticating a request or a service in a computernetwork. Kerberos lets a user request an encrypted ticket rom an authentication process thatcan then be used to request a particular service rom a server. Te users password does not haveto pass through the network.
http://partners.adobe.com/securityhttp://partners.adobe.com/security


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LDAPLightweight Directory Access Protocol is a soware protocol or enabling anyone tolocate organizations, individuals, and other resources, such as files and devices, in a public orcorporate network.

MAC/HMACA MAC provides a digital fingerprint o a file by means o a hash. In this case, asymmetric key is concatenated to the message and then hashed (HMAC). Without the key, anattacker cannot orge a new message.

MDAn algorithm used to veriy data integrity through the creation o a 28-bit message

digest rom data input (which may be a message o any length) that is claimed to be as unique tothat specific data as a fingerprint is to a specific individual.

OCSP (RFC 2560)Online Certificate Status Protocol is one o two common schemes (CRL isthe other) or maintaining the security o a server and other network resources.

PKCSPublic-Key Cryptography Standards are a set o inter-vendor standard protocols or

making secure in ormation exchange on the Internet using a public key inrastructure. Adobesupports the ollowing standards:

PKCS 1RSA Cryptography standard

PKCS 7 Cryptographic message syntax standard

PKCS 11Cryptographic token interace standard

PKCS 12Personal inormation exchange syntax st andard

RAA registration authority is an authority that verifies user requests or a digital certificateand tells the CA to issue it. RAs are part o a PKI, a networked system that enables companies andusers to exchange inormation and money saely and securely.

RC4A shared key stream cipher algorithm that requires a secure exchange o a shared keyoutside the specification.

RSAAn asymmetric encryption and authentication system that uses an algorithm developed in1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman. Te RSA algorithm is a commonlyused encry ption and authentication algorithm and is included as part o the Web browsersrom Microso and Netscape.

SAMLSecurity Assertion Markup Lang uage is an XML standard t hat allows a user to login once or aliated but separate Web sites. SAML is designed or business-to-business andbusiness-to-consumer transactions.

SHA-1, SHA-256Secure Hash Algorithm used to generate a condensed representation o amessage called a message digest. Te SHA-1 algorithm is required or use with the DigitalSignature Algorithm (DSA) as specified in the Digital Signature Standard (DSS) and whenever asecure hash algorithm is required. Both the transmitter and intended receiver o a message incomputing and veriying a digital signature use the SHA-1.

Smart CardA plastic card about the size o a credit card with an embedded microchip that can beloaded with data and used or telephone calling, electronic cash payments, and otherapplications, and then periodically rereshed or additional use.

SSL/TLSSecure Socket Layer/ ransport Layer Security. Internet protocols that ensure privacybetween communicating applications and their users. When a server and client communicate,LS ensures that no third party may eavesdrop or tamper with any message. LS is the successorto the SSL.

Time-stamp Protocol (RFC 3161)A time-stamping service supports assertions o proo that adatum existed beore a particular time. RFC 3161 describes the ormat o a request sent to a timestamping authority (SA) and o the response that is returned. It also establishes several securityrelevant requirements or SA operation, with regards to processing requests to generateresponses.

Adobe Systems Incorporated345 Park AvenueSan Jose, CA 95110-2704USAwww.adobe.com

Adobe, the Adobe l ogo, Acrobat, Adobe Live Cycle, and Reader a re either registered trademarks or trademarks o Adobe Systems Incorporatedin the United States and/or other countries. Mac OS is a trademark o Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries.Linux is a registered trademark o Linus Torvalds. Microsot and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks o Microsot Corporation inthe United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property o their respective owners.

2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

95009146 5/07

For more informationFor more inormation about Adobe

security solutions, please visit

www.adobe.com/security
http://www.adobe.com/securityhttp://www.adobe.com/security