Authentication Methods ​

Email ​

Email response authentication is useful when you are using an email-based work flow with AlphaTrust® e-Sign. An email is sent to the designated email address (with follow up emails as configured). The email contains a transaction specific link. Anyone with access to this email could use the link. You can configure any Participant to receive the process access link email by setting the Participant's SendRequestViaEmail property to true.

participant = new ParticipantInsertModel()
              { 
                  FullName = "John Smith", 
                  EmailAddress = "testing@alphatrust.com", 
                  SendRequestViaEmail = true 
              }

PIN/Password ​

The Password authentication type allows you to assign a onetime PIN/Password to the participant's process access link. AlphaTrust® e-Sign will prompt the user for this PIN/password before allowing any viewing or signing of the documents. This PIN/password is specific to a participant in a particular transaction. The Email Response authentication may be combined with PIN/password authentication. PIN/Passwords for Participants in a transaction must be at least 4 characters and not more than 128 characters long. Any character is allowed except the space character and control codes (i.e. byte values below 0x20).

participant = new ParticipantInsertModel() 
              { 
                  FullName = "John Smith", 
                  EmailAddress = "testing@alphatrust.com", 
                  SendRequestViaEmail = true,
                  Authentication = new AuthenticationModel() 
                                   { 
                                       Type = AuthenticationModel.TypeEnum.Password,
                                       Data = "p@ssword123" 
                                   } 
              }

Mobile ​

Mobile authentication currently requires a Twilio account setup in our Integrations section. Enabling Mobile authentication will require a phone number during Transaction creation setup and will prompt the Participant to send themselves a text to the pre-configured phone number at which point they will need to enter the code sent in order to proceed further.

participant = new ParticipantInsertModel() 
              { 
                  FullName = "John Smith", 
                  EmailAddress = "testing@alphatrust.com", 
                  SendRequestViaEmail = true, 
                  Authentication = new AuthenticationModel() 
                                   { 
                                       Type = AuthenticationModel.TypeEnum.Mobile, 
                                       Data = "credentialname=myMobileCreds;mobilesendtophone=555-555-5555" 
                                   } 
              }

Registered User ​

RegisteredUser authentication can make use of a Registered User signature image uploaded to the user's profile within AlphaTrust® e-Sign. These profiles are created and maintained by a group administrator. They contain the user's name, email address, title, organization, and may optionally contain an image of the user's handwritten signature. If this image is present, it is used to visually represent the signature. This type of authentication is most often used by regular users of AlphaTrust® e-Sign, such as managers or executives. Email response authentication may be combined with RegisteredUser authentication.

participant = new ParticipantInsertModel() 
              { 
                  FullName = "John Smith",
                  EmailAddress = "john.smith@your-domain.com", 
                  SendRequestViaEmail = true, 
                  Authentication = new AuthenticationModel() 
                                   { 
                                       Type = AuthenticationModel.TypeEnum.RegisteredUser,
                                       Data = "johnsmith" //username goes here or leave blank for any valid user 
                                   } 
              }

Federation ​

Active Directory/LDAP claims-based authentication (SAML) - this type delegates authentication to a trusted authentication provider in an enterprise network. The trusted authentication provider is a Microsoft ADFS 3.0+ provider that will authenticate the user and return SAML claims to AlphaTrust® e-Sign for authorization to a transaction. Please see the AlphaTrust® e-Sign - Federation Setup Guide for details on configuring AlphaTrust® e-Sign for Federation authentication (SAML / ADFS 3.0+). This authentication type is only available for on-premise / in-stack deployments of AlphaTrust® e-Sign - not available in our SaaS service.

participant = new ParticipantInsertModel() 
              { 
                  FullName = "John Smith", 
                  EmailAddress = "john.smith@your-domain.com", 
                  SendRequestViaEmail = true,
                  Authentication = new AuthenticationModel() 
                                   { 
                                       Type = AuthenticationModel.TypeEnum.Federation,
                                       Data = @"yourdomain\johnsmith" //federated username goes here or leave blank for any valid user 
                                   } 
              }

Knowledge-Based (KBA) ​

Knowledge-based authentication, commonly referred to as KBA, is a method of authentication which seeks to prove the identity of someone accessing a service such as a financial institution or website. As the name suggests, KBA requires the knowledge of private information of the individual to prove that the person providing the identity information is the owner of the identity. There are two types of KBA: static KBA, which is based on a pre-agreed set of shared secrets, and dynamic KBA, which is based on questions generated from a wider base of personal information. KBA authentication through AlphaTrust providers utilize dynamic KBA.

KBA Provider Options ​

Experian’s Knowledge IQ℠ powered by Precise ID℠ is a revolutionary knowledge-based authentication tool for identity authentication and fraud prevention. Precise ID℠ scoring models and Knowledge IQ℠ interactive challenge-response questions provide innovative and integrated identity authentication and fraud detection on a single platform. By combining the leading-edge analytics and decisioning technology of Precise ID℠ scores with the sophisticated Knowledge IQ℠ challenge-response authentication questions, you have a comprehensive risk-management and identity authentication system. You must have an account set up with Experian prior to utilizing this authentication method.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions™ offers an Authentication product used to quickly verify identities and create multi-layered authentication approaches for better fraud control, and a better customer experience. You must have an account set up with LexisNexis prior to utilizing this authentication method.

Control Panel Configuration ​

Login to the AlphaTrust® e-Sign Control Panel using an account with Administrative permissions and select Credential Administration. Add a new Credential and select either LexisNexis or ExperianPreciseID. Type a unique Credential Name and remember this value (it will be used later) and complete all fields; click Insert.

API Configuration ​

There is an Authentication property on the Participant object. Create a new Authentication object and set the property [Type] to Authentication.Types.Kba.

There is also a property on the Authentication object called Data. This accepts a semi-colon delimited string value. Below are the acceptable values: Bold indicates required

Matching user-entered data with your own system's records ​

To match data, simply swap out the word “data” for the word “match” in any of the items above. Example: matchmonthofbirth=## or matchsocialsecurity=#########

Button Customization ​

You can also customize the button text using the following:

• button-positive-1=I Agree
• button-negative-1=Exit
• button-positive-2=Submit My Information
• button-negative-2=Cancel
• button-positive-3=Verify My Identity
• button-negative-3=Cancel
• “positive” is the yes/submit/continue type button on the page
• “negative” is the no/exit/cancel type button on the page

Legacy Experian PreciseID ​

If you were using Experian PreciseID Authentication prior to version 4.31.0.0, then during the upgrade process we upgraded the storage of your Experian credentials to our new Credential Administration. You can edit this information, but please note that if you update the Credential Name, it will require you to update your API calls to conform to the KBA Authentication format above.

HTTP Header Check ​

The HTTP Header Check functionality allows you to authenticate a Participant via your own web application policy-based or single sign-on authentication provider. You can define HTTP header values that are required and even check for specific user ID values. Any or all of these values can also be included in the document's Audit Report.

The HTTP Header Check is not yet a true Authentication Type so in order to use it, you need to add it to the Participant object as a Workflow Action. Make sure to set the IsPreAuthentication=true so that it checks the headers from your authentication provider prior to AlphaTrust® e-Sign setting its authentication cookie.

participant = new ParticipantInsertModel()
              {
                  FullName = "John Smith",
                  EmailAddress = "john.smith@your-domain.com",
                  SendRequestViaEmail = true,
                  WorkflowActions = new List<object>
                                    {
                                        new ParticipantActionModel()
                                        {
                                            Description = "Siteminder Authentication", //Shows in Audit Report
                                            IsPreAuthentication = true, //ensures the check happens before it sets the authentication cookie
                                            Data = "UserIdHeaderName=MyIdHeaderName;UserIdHeaderValue=MyIdValue;AuditHeaders=headertocheck1,headertocheck2,etc."
                                        }
                                    }
              }