PKI Webtop (My PKI Desktop in the Cloud)

First with the explosion of the Internet and now with the boom in cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS), more and more individuals and companies are putting their operating environment in private or public clouds. PKI Webtop provides security services to protect these new environments.

From the consumer's perspective, one of the advantages of the cloud is that the service can be accessed from anywhere and, in most cases, from a browser in any type of device: a simple notebook or smart phone or a PC with a local operating system and office applications.

The cloud enriches the desktop concept. Instead of locally managing files and applications with a heavy graphical application, management is located in the cloud and is made available to the user as a light Internet application via a browser. Within Safelayer's "Security, trust and privacy" and "Graphical user interface and ergonomics" R&D lines, the aim of the PKI Webtop application is to provide a familiar environment, similar to the desktop of an operating system, to the user that provides security and trust services based on PKI technology for guaranteeing the authenticity, integrity, non-repudiation and confidentiality of application and Web-scenario data in a user-friendly and intuitive way.

PKI Webtop's main functionality includes:

• Graphical file-management, documents and applications in the cloud via a browser
  Using a graphical desktop, the user can transfer information from a local environment to the server in the cloud and organize this information into folders, application groups, etc. Users store documents in the server to be able to access them from anywhere. The document manager features most of the functionality found in the file managers of operating systems, such as browsing folders and reorganizing documents using drag and drop, copy and paste, search, create new directory, share folders with other users, etc. operations. Shortcuts have also been added for signing and encrypting these documents and validating the signatures. Another feature of the document manager is that signature and encryption policies can be defined for directories so they are applied automatically to files moved to these directories.
• Digital signature and signature verification
  Users can digitally sign any type of document, being able to select signature characteristics and the certificate to be used. Thanks to signature verification, a signed document can be validated to insure its integrity. One of the prototype's unique features is that the signature can contain information on the associated context.
• Document encryption
  Any type of document can be encrypted. This feature guarantees the protection of user data.
• Key and certificate manager
  This allows users to manage their private keys and certificates, which are stored in the Personal Secure Store (PSS) keystore.
• Signature request manager
  Documents often need to be signed by different users, as is the case with contracts, purchase orders, etc. The request manager allows users to browse the document-signature requests they have received and to create new requests in which they specify the file to be signed, the characteristics of the request and the signers to receive it.
• History of actions performed
  A log in which users can see the operations carried out from their accounts.

The PKI Webtop application combines its ease of use with the high degree of reliability and security provided by the trust services of the TrustedX platform.

This work contains collaborations that were co-funded by the Spanish government's Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) as part of the SEGUR@ project, ref. CENIT-2007 2004 in the CENIT program (under the INGENIO 2010 initiative), and the Spanish Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Trade under the SAT2 project, refs. TSI-020100-2008-365 and TSI-020100-2009-374 of the AVANZA I+D sub-program.

PKI Webtop is your new secure desktop in the Cloud, where you can upload and share your personal files, and protect them with security services like electronic signature and data encryption. You can also create and receive electronic signature requests to sign documents with other users.

Sign, encrypt and share your documents easily	Manage your private keys in the cloud
	Read more
Configure automatic signature and encryption actions for your folders

See also PKI Webtop for Android.