Using a digital signatur allows organizations the ability to complete business transactions electronically. This is because the digital certificate containing the signature is encrypted using a mathematical sequence, in order to establish a value for the certificate. Any time a person signs a document, form, file or other data-type with their signature using their digital certificate, it prevents others from opening or altering the contents. The only way to authenticate the signature and reopen the file is with a digital certificate containing the signer’s public key. The public key is able to decrypt the data as long as the mathematical sequence performed by the public key arrives at exactly the same value as the signer’s private key.
In situations where multiple signatures are required on electronic documents, the process needed involves users having access to digital certificates containing their digital signatur. The first person to sign the document must make sure all other approvers have a copy of their public key available. Without the public key, the next person to approve the document would not be able to open it. Further, each additional signer must also provide copies of their public keys to everyone else. This is because each signer’s information has to be authenticated, in order for the document to be opened, so that the other approvers can attach their signatures. Finally, whomever receives the document at the end will require public keys from each signer in order to fully validate the document as being authentic.