wellsigned

Well-signed is a term used to describe data or documents that carry a digital signature which can be independently verified to confirm the origin of the signer and the integrity of the content. In this sense, a well-signed artifact provides authenticity, integrity, and non-repudiation under a verifiable public-key infrastructure.

A well-signed artifact typically satisfies several criteria: the signing key used to create the signature corresponds to a public key or certificate that is trusted by the verifier; the certificate chain leads to a trusted root authority; the certificate is valid at the time of signing and during verification; the signature covers the intended data and is tamper-evident; a trusted timestamp may accompany the signature to establish when it was created; and revocation status is checked to ensure the signing key has not been revoked.

Verification processes involve checking the cryptographic signature against the data, validating the signer’s certificate chain and trust anchors (and any required timestamp), and confirming there is no revocation that would invalidate the signature. Weak algorithms, expired certificates, or compromised keys can prevent an artifact from being considered well-signed.

Use cases include software code signing, secure email (S/MIME or OpenPGP), and digitally signed documents (PDF, XML, or contracts). While the label "well-signed" is descriptive rather than a formal standard, it captures the goal of ensuring trustworthy provenance and data integrity in digital communications.