Cryptographic techniques are so trusted that it is now the case that electronic documents can be used in exactly the same way as hardcopy equivalents would. Take the Microsoft anti-trust trial for example. Numerous electronic documents were presented by the government as evidence in their case against the software giant. The documentation environment of the future Public key cryptography has a huge potential to radically transform the way business documents and information are handled. In the near future there is likely to be a shift away from fax and courier towards secure email for routine, signed business communications.
Secure email offers much greater flexibility and security.
It is much harder to manipulate than fax for example. As business people become more comfortable with e-mail and as they begin forming more and more contracts purely online, definitive hardcopies will begin to disappear. A new age of online documentation is on us, where an increasing amount of business will be done entirely electronically. Contracts can indeed be formed online, without the parties meeting each other, and the security of electronic documents can now be superior to that of paper thanks to digital signatures and certificates. A smart card is a small plastic card with an embedded computer chip which is used for storing sensitive information such as passwords and private keys for use in cryptographic applications.