Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) for ICEGATE

Before we dive into the requirement of Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) for ICEGATE, it is important for us to know what is ICEGATE and DSC are:

What is ICEGATE?

ICEGATE (Indian Customs EDI gateway) is the gateway for the users of the Indian Customs EDI system. ICEGATE provides RES (Remote EDI Services) to the trade and industry such as (i) Furnishing documents, (ii) Carrying out data exchange, (iii) Making e-payment (iv) Enquiring the document status (v) Tracking of documents, and so forth.

What is a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)?

A DSC is an electronic key that is used to certify the electronic document. DSC is issued by the certifying authorities after checking the identity of the applicant thoroughly. Generally, a digital signature certificate (DSC) contains the following data of the user (i) Name of the user (ii) PIN code (iii) Name of the Country (iv) E-mail ID (v) DSC issuance date (vi) Name of the Certifying Authority

Which type of digital signature certificate is needed for ICEGATE?

For ICEGATE Class 3 digital signature certificate is needed. Class 3 DSC are high assurance certificates that were mainly introduced to secure the user data or where the failure of security services is high. This may include high-value transactions where the risk of fraud is comparatively higher. Due to this obtaining these certificates for a normal individual is quite hard and the applicant needs to physically appear before the Certifying Authorities.

Why do I need a Digital Signature Certificate?

A Digital Signature Certificate is a digital key that validates your identity electronically. It provides you with a significant level of security for your online exchanges by guaranteeing total protection of the data traded utilizing a digital certificate. You can utilize certificates to encode data to such an extent that only the proposed beneficiary can understand it. You can digitally sign data to guarantee the beneficiary that it has not been changed at the time of exchange, and validate your identity as the sender of the message.

Uses of Digital Signature Certificates (DSC)

Digital Signature Certificates can be used for the following: (I) For secure email and online exchanges, or to validate the different members of electronic exchanges. (ii) To demonstrate the domain name ownership and set up SSL/TLS encoded secured session between your site and the client for online exchanges. (iii) As a web developer designer, for demonstrating the ownership of code and holding the trustworthiness of the conveyed software programs. (iv) For signing online documents, e-tenders, furnishing ITR (Income Tax Returns), to access membership-based sites consequently without entering a user credential such as user name and password.