Digital signatures are highly used these days because of several factors. They are used to verify the authenticity of the download source and to check if the downloaded file is from an official source or not. Digital signatures are equivalent to the handwritten signatures but offer far more security and are very difficult to duplicate/replicate. Almost all the file downloading websites are providing file signatures along with the actual file. Users can use various tools to verify if the file is from the actual source or not.
Download signatures are basically based on the public key cryptography. With the help of RSA, which is a public key algorithm, one can generate the download signatures and one is public and another is private. The public key is further matched with the private key and that’s how the signatures are further verified.
Key Points Of Digital Download Signatures
- The private key must be protected and should be in good hands otherwise if it’s leaked, then there’s the possibility that other parties might create fake keys and hence might result in big security flaws.
- Digital signatures also offer great security over any other electronic ones. Hence, it’s being widely used by dozens of industries all over the world for different purposes. The unique identification key is permanently added to the file and users can verify them on their own end.
- The verification standard is also high and it’s very easy for the users to verify the file on their own end. All it needs is the public key and a verification tool.
- Digital signatures are accepted and used globally for different purposes. They’re using them in order to verify that the sent data is being correctly received by the receiver. It decreases the chances of file manipulation and much another security flaw.
- Signatures can still be verified even if the vendor isn’t serving their services. This means there’s long-term retention and access.
- The verification process is very easy and straightforward. There’s no need for technicians and anyone can verify signatures after little guidance.
Uses Of The Digital Signatures
By Government: The government is using digital signatures in broadway to transfer confidential data from one place to another. Such as laws, rules, bills and so on. In fact, the publically issued bills and other materials are also secured by a signature so that later on it can be verified that the document was originally generated from a Govt. office.
Medical Agencies: The increase of digital technologies in the medical industry raises a very serious issue and that’s cybersecurity. If medical bills and prescriptions are being modified/manipulated by the MITM attacks, then a lot of very serious issues might cause harm to the agencies.
Financial Industry: All the contracts, banking loans, insurance, etc. which are digitally sent are being verified with the help of digital signatures. It’s very much required that the important documents and bills which are spread digitally can be verified later by the sender. It increases the trust factor of the document and people can trust the received documents.
Conclusion
The world is moving towards the paperless world and it’s very much required that the document sent from place to place should be the original one. People can manipulate the document which is being shared and this can cause major harm to the public, Govt. and companies as well. Digital signatures are very important as they are the mathematical way of verifying the authenticity of the digital message.
They are the equivalent of handwritten signature and stamp seals. They provide the message’s origin, identity and source as well. Major companies all around the world started using the digital signature and hence the authenticity of documents being spread becomes very high.