Adobe 22002486 Digital Signature User Guide - Page 113
Status Icons and Their Meaning
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Acrobat 9 Family of Products Security Feature User Guide Validating Signatures Status Icons and Their Meaning 113 7.4 Status Icons and Their Meaning By default, signatures are validated automatically when a document opens. You can change this behavior as described in "Validating Signatures Automatically" on page 102. Signature and document status' are represented by status icons and text both in the document, on the Signatures pane, on the Document Message Bar, and in the Signature Properties dialog, and elsewhere. Note: For a higher level of assurance, do not rely solely upon the visual inspection of status icons. Review the Signature Properties dialog for revocation and trust information as well as the signer's certificate details. 7.4.1 Signature Status Definitions To determine a signature's status, the application checks the signature's digital ID certificate status (is it valid) and document integrity (has it changed since being signed). The rules for determining signature status are as follows: Valid signatures used a valid and trusted certificate and the document has not changed or has changed in ways specifically permitted by the author. Problematic signatures are associated with certificates that cannot be validated or lack a trust relationship with the signer. Unknown signatures indicate that the signature validity state has not been checked. Invalid signatures either have an invalid certificate or the document has changed in ways specifically prohibited by the author. 7.4.2 Document Status Definitions In addition to the individual status for each signature, the Document Message Bar displays the document's overall status. The document status is essentially a summation or "rollup" of all the signature status' AND the effect of document changes after the last signature. For example, a form might have two valid signatures and a valid document status. However, when some someone types into the form's text box, both the signature status' get the blue "i" information icon indicating that something has changed after the signatures were added. The document message bar now shows a yellow triangle indicating that there are unsigned changed in the document. If the form is signed again, the overall document status changes back to valid as indicated by the green check. The rules for determining a document's status are as follows: If there is only one signature and the document hasn't changed since it was signed, then the document status is identical to the signature status. The status is flagged as problematic if there are unsigned changes following the last approval signature. The status is unknown (magnifying glass) if the authenticity verification check could not complete. Like a signature status, if either the authenticity verification or document integrity check fails, the overall document status is invalid (red x).