How Does Codel Work?
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Codel provides a securely-hosted service comprising the following three components:
Creating the Codelmark
Downloaded Software uses a secure hashing algorithm to create a unique fingerprint of the data called a ‘Codelmark’. The ‘Codelmark’ is a unique alphanumeric identifier (normally 64 characters long) created from a file’s contents and stored in Codel's database along with details of the registering party and a time and date of registration. Codel never stores the content, i.e. the actual data from which the Codelmark was computed, and the resulting Codelmark cannot be used to recreate the original data. There is therefore no risk of theft or loss of confidentiality. Any change whatsoever in the data contained in the file would produce a distinctly different Codelmark and so, for evidential purposes, it is possible to show authorship of data and authenticity of content at a specific point in time.
Registration
The Codelmark is registered and stored indefinitely with Codel's secure repository. Registering data is very simple to do and can either be done, by downloading the software, or integrating the Codel interfaces into software applications.
Verification
Data can be verified by anyone, free, without the need to download software or sign up for a service. This can be done directly, by submitting a file to Codel's website to find a match, by using the downloaded Codel software or by integrating the Codel service into software applications so that data can be registered and verified automatically.
Data Cannot be Changed without Detection
It can be proved to legally acceptable standards that any change whatsoever in the data contained in a file registered with Codel would produce a distinctly different Codelmark. Users can be confident that once a file is registered that the file’s contents are effectively “locked” and any change to the file’s contents will invalidate the file’s Codelmark. An attempt to verify a modified file’s contents with the Codel system will result in a failure response being returned identifying the fact that the contents of the file are now different from the contents that were originally codelmarked.
Trust is Assured by Creating Audit Trails
To assure trust in the Codel system, all Codelmarks received in a 24-hour period are put into a daily folder and this folder is itself Codelmarked to create a master audit trail Codelmark. Every day at midnight, this Master Audit Trail Codelmark (Audit) is created via a strictly controlled process and stored securely. (Note – These values are also published on Codel’s website.) If interrogated, Codel can produce all the Codelmarks registered on a specific day, re-compute the Master Audit Trail Codelmark and prove that the day’s Coldelmarks are unaltered by comparing the resultant Master Audit Trail Codelmark with the value stored by Codel. Even this rigorous process for assuring the integrity of stored Codelmark records might be questioned by some, and therefore a further layer of security is added to the process as described below.
Trust is Further Assured by Publication of the Audit Trail in the Financial Times
To show that the Codelmarks cannot have been changed retrospectively either by unauthorised third parties of even by Codel itself, Codel publishes the Audit in the Financial Times every day. A feature of the hashing algorithm that is used to create a Codelmark is that it can be stored electronically or, if required, published in plain text. The purpose of publishing the Audit in the FT, is to put it into a widely distributed medium (approximately 500,000 copies) all of which would need to be destroyed before someone who had gained unauthorised access to the Codel database (which is in any event protected by rigorous and robust security mechanisms) could either alter or insert a new record.
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