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Secure Bid ProcessTM or SBP is patented technology developed by Nextenders
that meets all the security criteria for tendering and uniquely makes electronic
tendering process tamper-evident. It is the most secure bid security solution available
in the market today.
The solution actually replicates the "sealed box" and "sealed envelope" system of
a physical tendering system in an electronic environment and extends the same to
all three stages of a bid process—from bid preparation to bid submission and opening
of the tenders.
SBP implements Public Key Infrastructure (’PKI’) at its very core as
opposed to other solutions that implement PKI like a wrapper, making SBP inherently
compliant with all the requirements of the Indian Information Technology Act and
future-proof,
However, what enables SBP to guarantee tamper-evidence in a bidding process is the
inventive use of a technology that enables users to apply established algorithmic
standards to data to create "hash values" of bid documents and bid data.
What this means is that not only is data encrypted at all levels through PKI, but
the bid submission data is converted into a unique fixed-size bit string or its
cryptographic hash value, such that an accidental or intentional change to the data,
including opening/viewing the data, will change the hash value. This "hash value"
is analogous to a fingerprint of an individual being unique to that person.
To make it further tamper-evident, the hash values of all bids submitted are combined
to create a "super hash" which is published by the department or person handling
the tenders from the buyer side. While, tampering may still happen, the SBP process
ensures that any unauthorized view or change in data, irrespective whether it is
by a bidder or a buyer user, will result in a change in the "super hash" value,
thereby making the tampering evident to all concerned. At this stage, the process
can be halted and further investigation conducted to find out which specific "hash
value(s)" have changed, and hence which bids have been affected/tampered.
It is important to note that a user’s actions during the SBP process, including
the "hashing" and "super hashing" are automated but transparent to the user.
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