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Signature cards for authentication

Important notes about the supported signature cards

  • With signature cards, the login or the authenticated delivery of tax data is rejected with an error message if "UNKNOWN" is returned in the response of the OCSP status request to a signature card.
    The error message is "081005271: The certificate was blocked by the publisher and is therefore no longer valid.", for security reasons, the status" UNKNOWN "is treated as a blocking of the signature card by the publisher.

    If the login or authenticated submission of tax data is rejected with the above error message even though you have not blocked your signature card from your certification service provider, please contact your certification service provider directly to resolve the issue.

    Holders of DATEV signature cards will find more information in such cases www.datev.de/info-db/1046096.

  • The signature card D-TRUST 3.1 is currently not supported by ELSTER
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Currently, the signature cards are supported for authentication by the following publishers or trust centers:

Following the recommendations of the BSI and the Federal Network Agency, ELSTER recommends the use of signature cards for authentication with a key length of 2048 bit and the hash algorithm SHA256 to ensure a long-term security level. Please address any questions to the publisher of your signature card for authentication.

Notes

  • To our knowledge, the free OpenLimit driver for signature cards can only be used in conjunction with ElsterFormular and My ELSTER. If you want to use your signature card with another software product, you will need a paid version of the driver.
  • Before purchasing a new signature card, please inform your publisher which drivers can be used with ELSTER and any associated costs. A warranty for the functionality of the drivers can unfortunately not be assumed by ELSTER. The responsibility for the functionality of the drivers offered rests solely with the respective publisher.
  • Signature cards for authentication with pseudonyms are explicitly not supported!

Find details about data security for BOP in the help section Show help regarding the term.