In modern days, the trends for everything have changed including the signature. Nowadays, many of us are using a digital signature to bypass fraudsters. Even many countries such as the European Union and America are considering the digital signature certificate as legit and giving the same importance as that of conventional signature. In India too, Digital Signature Certificate has become an important tool. Many ROC Forms are signed only by DSC. Moreover, Professionals give more preference to DSC. In this article, we will learn how digital signature certificate works.
Digital Signature – At a Glance
A digital signature is a form of e-signature based on PKI that examines the original identity of the signer and thus eliminates any kind of forgery in the document amid transit. In short, you can say, digital signature offers more security to the documents of the signer as it works on an advanced algorithm and thus secures the documents against tempering.
If you are still using the traditional signature and willing to move to digital signature then in this article you will come to know everything about digital signature and how digital signature certificate works.
Let’s check how digital signature certificate works
Digital Signature works on the mathematical algebraic and exponential functions and as per that, the same is categorized into two parts, i.e., Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) and RSA. In DSA, the receiver gets the private key, and using the same, he/she decrypts the message or documents. Moreover, DSA is used just to create the signature and not for encrypting the data.
DSA works on a Log-based function and offers a 160 bits number that is used in the digital signature. However, in RSA (algorithm name is based on the person- Ronald, Shamir, and Adelman), a cryptographic algorithm is used and it offers a public key that means anyone having the key can go for decryption.
For encrypting the data, another algorithm is used, i.e., Hashing. It is a process where data is encrypted using the hash function. Hash is a series of letters or numbers or a combination of both. When the hash is blended with the hashing algorithm, it gives the result to the digital signature. The working algorithm of hash is completely different as each hashed data has a unique hash value and if any slight or minor change is done in the hash value, then the entire hashed data will get affected.
For instance, while decrypting the data, if the hashed value does not match with the input value, it means that the data was tempered during transit. However, if it matches, it can be said that the data are verified.
To enhance the security two major cryptographic features have been added, i.e., PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). PKI is used where the receiver needs the digital signature of many parties. In general, PKI is a framework that validates and generates public key certificates. Whereas, PGP is an encryption program where Public and Private keys are blended with added security patches.
If you compile all the essential elements of Digital Signature then you will understand how it works. Let us suppose, you own a Digital Signature that has a private key. Now, you need to sign a document and the same will be hashed via a hash function which means your document with the signature is now DSA encrypted. Once the receiver gets the document, he/she will use the public key to decrypt the hash and once the hash values match, then the signature will be verified.
Benefits of Using Digital Signature Certificate
In the present era, most people prefer to go through the digital platform, whether it’s banking work, insurance, or others. Thus, The digital signature certificate saves time, and effort so to perform the financial job or other also Signature is a must for various government works. Lastly, it secures the document too. It shows whether the document is tempered or not and hence your legitimacy is completely protected.
How to Use a Digital Signature Certificate to Sign a Document
Moreover, you require any kind of guidance related to the Digital Signature Certificate. Please feel free to contact us at 8881-069-069.
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