Using ContentAssurity

Content Archive, Content History & Audit Log


Content Archive

The content archive keeps a copy of all the content you have chosen to save in ContentAssurity. The most recent content is always shown first.

To save content in the archive select the button on the toolbar. If this button is enabled then the content you have selected for protection/signing or unprotection/verification is automatically saved to the content archive for future viewing and editing.  If this button is not enabled then content will not be saved.



Name
This is the content subject.  You can rename the content subject by either double-clicking on it, changing it and pressing 'Enter'.  Alternatively, you can right-click on the subject name (at the top of the tree in the content History panel), selecting 'Rename content' from the pop-up menu and enter the new name. The content subject is securely stored as part of the content.

 Search for content.  Searches the content archive for content containing the search characters you specify, either in the subject or the content itself.



Enter the text you want to search for and then press the 'Search Now' button.  Only content containing that text will be shown in the Content Archive window.

 Show All content.  Displays all content in the content archive window.

 Delete Selected content.  Highlight content and then select this button to delete that content from the archive. You will be asked to confirm this action before deletion takes place because deleted content cannot be recovered.

 Delete All content.  Pressing this button deletes all of the content in the content archive.  You will be asked to confirm this action before deletion takes place because because deleted content cannot be recovered.

When you highlight content in the content archive information about that content is shown in the panels to the right. These are described in detail below.





Content History

ContentAssurity displays the history of the content that you process in this panel.  The following information may be displayed:

 Current Content - the latest version of the edited content.

 Original Content - the start point for this sequence of content.

 Content Change x - any edited content between these points is labeled as 'Content Change n' where n is the number of the change

 Protected for - who the content was protected for

 Signers of this Content - the people who have already signed the content

If you have saved content to the content archive then the history will show an entry each time content has been altered. Whenever content is signed and/or protected ContentAssurity securely adds that information to the history so that you have a reliable audit trail showing what the content was at any point in time, who had signed it, and who it was protected for. You can see whenever content was altered, all the way back to the origination of that particular content (in chronological order), and check who was involved at each stage.



Content Audit (Audit Log)

When you are navigating through the content history you are shown the audit information in the content audit window. You can copy information shown in the audit panel to the clipboard and then into any other application if you need a hard copy of it.  Right-click in the audit window and select 'Copy Content Audit' to copy the information shown in the audit window to the clipboard.

The audit information relates to content, signers or recipients.  If you click on the subject field at the top of the content history panel the audit log panel will show you:

 when the content was created
 how many changes have taken place
 when each signature was added to each version of the content

If  you select any signatory field you are shown:

 the name of the key that was used
 when it was used
 if the signature is technically valid
 whether you have chosen to trust them by including their key in your keyarchive

If you select a protected for field you are shown:

 the name of the person the content was protected for
 their email address
 their organizational address


Whenever a signer or a person for whom content is protected is selected you can see the full details of their key by clicking on the Advanced Key Info button at the bottom of the audit window.  This opens a new window where you can view information concerning the public key certificate used and the chain (if the key is not self-signed) back to the issuing authority.

If you select a content subject it is checked for validity. If it is valid the content is shown in the main window.  If you have selected the current content the background of the screen is white to show that you can edit the content.  If the screen is grey it means you have selected previous content that cannot be edited.  You can highlight and copy previous content and use it to create new content or edit and paste it into the current content.