Subject Matter Index Telecommunications and IP Law Center Digital Signature and Authentication by Karin Szabo I. Introduction 1.
Digital signature is an alternative for a handwritten signature.
Like in trade, electronic trade sometimes requires a written contract. For a bigger deal like the purchase of expensive furniture on credit you have to sign documents. Digital signatures that are verified by certification authorities thought a system of key pair encryption technology provide a means for the recipients of electronic documents to verify the senders identity and to confirm that the documents have not been altered. A private key is one that belongs to a principal and is never revealed to anyone and is use to encrypt a message digest sent by the principal to anyone. A Certification authority establishes a repository of clients and issues both public keys and a unique private key to each.