What is a digital signature?
A large amount of communication takes places these days electronically. People send emails, faxes, and files with the help of computers. With each and every file that is sent electronically, even emails, the possibility for a security breach exists. Hackers live for challenges, but they make a living from non-challenges. In order to protect data that you transfer electronically, you might want to invest in a digital signature. This is a powerful, technologically advanced way to make sure that your communique reaches only the intended recipient. A digital signature is an electronic signature that can be attached to documents to prove that the original content is still the content of record. In other words, a document containing a digital signature has been certified by its sender as accurate to his or her intentions and has not been altered by an unintended third party. One of the main components of a digital signature is its timestamp. This tells both the sender and the recipient the e
A digital signature functions for electronic documents like a handwritten signature does for printed documents. The signature is an unforgeable piece of data that asserts that a named person wrote or otherwise agreed to the document to which the signature is attached. A digital signature actually provides a greater degree of security than a handwritten signature. The recipient of a digitally signed message can verify both that the message originated from the person whose signature is attached and that the message has not been altered either intentionally or accidentally since it was signed. Furthermore, secure digital signatures cannot be repudiated; the signer of a document cannot later disown it by claiming the signature was forged. In other words, digital signatures enable “authentication” of digital messages, assuring the recipient of a digital message of both the identity of the sender and the integrity of the message. ————————————– How is a digital signat
The information in this Help topic applies to Windows Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Internet Explorer 8. A digital signature is an electronic security mark that can be added to files. It allows you to verify the publisher of a file and helps verify that the file has not changed since it was digitally signed. If the file does not have a valid digital signature, there is no way for you to be sure that the file is actually from the source it claims to be from, or that it has not been tampered with (possibly by a virus) since it was published. It’s safer to avoid opening the file unless you know for certain who created it and whether the contents are safe to open. Even a valid digital signature does not verify that the contents of the file are harmless. You must decide if you should trust the contents of the file based on the identity of the publisher and where you are downloading the file from.
A digital signature, not be confused with a digital certificate, is an electronic signature that can be used to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message, the signer of a document, or the owner of a credit card. It can also be used to ensure that the original content of the message or document sent is unchanged. A digital signature is usually generated from a digital certificate using public and private key technology. (Note that a digital signature is not just a scanned image of a signature — a relatively common misconception.) Additional benefits of a digital signature are that it is easily transportable, cannot be easily repudiated, cannot be imitated by someone else, and can be automatically time-stamped. A digital signature can be used with any kind of message, whether it is encrypted or not, so that the receiver can be sure of the sender’s identity and that the message arrived intact. A digital certificate also contains the digital signature of the certificate-issuing
A digital signature is a cryptographic code that can be attached to an electronically transmitted message that uniquely identifies the sender and ensures the message has not been tampered with. Like a written signature, the purpose of a digital signature is to guarantee that the individual sending the message really is who he or she claims to be. Digital signatures are vital to the deployment and expansion of online business, and they are a key component of most authentication schemes. To be effective, digital signatures must be non-repudiable. There are a number of different encryption and authentication techniques to guarantee this level of security.
