The present invention is directed to a method for indicating the integrity
of a collection of digital objects, such as a software package, an email
with attachments, etc.) The method comprising the steps of:Sealing the
collection of digital objects by gathering the hash values of the digital
objects into a binding file and digitally signing the binding file (the
binding file may further comprise information about the relations between
the objects); andIndicating the integrity of a sealed collection of
digital objects by validating the integrity of its binding file via its
digital signature; and validating the integrity of each object by the
correspondence of its hash value with the corresponding hash value stored
within the validated binding file.