Digital signature allows you to know that whether the document or message you are going to read is authentic or not. It guarantees that the message or document has not been modified in transit and comes from a particular sender.
How Digital Signatures Work
Hashing: this is where you take the document or message and create a one-of-a-kind digital fingerprint — a hash.
Using the private key of the sender, the hash is encrypted to create the second half of the signature, or a sort of digital signature.
Step 5: Attachment — The document or message is signed digitally (which hashes the content).
Verifying a Digital Signature
By way of hashing: for example, the receiver creates a hash of the document or message that was received
Decryption happens this way: the receiver decrypts the digital signature using the sender’s public key.
Compare: The hash obtained by decrypting the hash is compared with the hash calculated. If they match, the authenticity of the document or message is proven, and if not, it can be assumed that the document or message has been tampered with.
The advantages of Digital Signatures
Authentication: Confirms the identity of the individual sending the message.
Integrity: This means that the document or message has not been modified.
Non-Repudiation: So that the sender cannot deny the message sent.
Legally Valid: Digital signatures are often treated as legally binding.
Use Cases of Digital Signatures
SECURE EMAIL: Authenticate email messages
Secure Document Signing: electronically signing contracts, legal documents and other important documents.
Software distribution: The authenticity of software that has been downloaded
Blockchain Technology — Protecting transactions and data within blockchain networks
Conclusion
Digital signatures are great innovation in our business and online conversation. Digital signatures have thus emerged as an integral tool of the digital ecosystem due to their ability to provide a secure and reliable way of confirming the authenticity and integrity of digital documents.
