What is Digital Signature?

An electronic signature is a set of data in electronic form. It is a complex data that is link with other data to identify the signatory. With the digital signature, it is easy to check the provenance, authenticity and integrity of messages exchanged via the Internet.

There are two types of electronic signatures and these include the basic and advanced . The basic does not guarantee the identity of the signer or the accuracy of the information received and does not ensure that the message has been carried out by a reliable transmitter. However, the advance signature identifies the signer and detects any subsequent changes of data that could occur along the exchange. This type signature is known as digital signature .

How it works

The digital signature is a signature-specific technology and created by the so-called systems of asymmetric key cryptography whose operation is based two keys. The owner owns two keys which include the public key and private key . The private key is known only to the issuer and is associated with the information you send, while those receiving only knows their public key. The two keys are needed and should complement each other to ensure that the encrypted message appears as the original.

Through a system of mathematical operations, the information is protected while the information is sent through the encryption of data. Moreover, hidden text is also applied to make the message appear gibberish composed of random letter and numbers which can only be deciphered by those who know the instructions and the key used.

For this process, the digital signature uses a so-called hash function that generates the message by applying a set of associated data called summary or fingerprint .

A fingerprint is applied to the private key and the result is called digital signature to be sent with the original message. Thus, the receiver receives the message and digital signature. Applying the same function to the message sender and decrypting the digital signature with the signer's public key, the receiver will generate 2 identical summaries which allow the author to check and ensure that the message received is the original message.