ASiC

ETSI's ZIP container binding documents to their detached signatures.

Definition

ASiC packages, inside a ZIP archive, the signed data and the signatures (XAdES or CAdES) that cover it, plus metadata. Two variants exist: ASiC-S (Simple) for a single data object, ASiC-E (Extended) for several. A baseline container's level is the lowest level of its incorporated signatures (B-B to B-LTA). Widely used for EU public procurement.

Origin

Standardised by ETSI EN 319 162-1 (Electronic Signatures and Infrastructures; Associated Signature Containers; Part 1), published by ETSI ESI. The ZIP structure builds on the OpenDocument / OOXML profile.

Example in context

An .asice file contains the business document, a META-INF/ folder with signatures.xml (XAdES) or signature.p7s (CAdES), and an ASiCManifest listing the data objects each signature covers.

Related terms

• CAdES — one of the incorporable signatures.
• EU EVA Standard — validates ASiC containers.