Ensuring a document or other communication received electronically is authentic is important. You will want to know you can trust the information received and be able to verify it was actually sent by the appropriate person and not someone else. One way to accomplish electronic data authentication is to use a digital signatur. Once the signature has been attached it is encrypted and prevents data from being opened, altered or modified. Only recipients with a matching digital certificate containing a public key are able to open and verify the authenticity of the data.
Make Sure You Understand How a Digital Signatur Works
It is important to understand how a digital signatur works when you want to use this electronic authentication method. First, anyone who needs to sign various data types will need their own digital certificate containing their signature. This certificate also contains the user’s private key. The private key is unique and is used to encrypt data anytime the user attaches their signature. Next, anyone who receives the signed and encrypted data needs to have a digital certificate containing the matching public key. The public key is verified against the private key and these two keys must match in order for recipients to be able to open and authenticate signed data.