In the
Internet age, data stealing or hacking has become a major threat to electronic
messaging. The cartographical method used to create a digital signature is used
to digitally sign the document. The digital signatures are certified by the CA
or certification authority and this acts as authentication of the sender who
has digitally signed the document. Thus, the certification lays great stress on
the authentication done by who is a certified designated authority. The sender
ensures that he issues the DSC. This process is being used for many Government
processes.
Thus now
businesses and individuals take great care to digitally sign documents wherever
its use has become a must. This authenticates the sender as well as prevents
manipulation on the way. Nevertheless,
businesses and individuals are possessive about their documents and messages
hence they encrypt them so that hackers cannot manipulate them. In the case of
highly secure documentation, manipulation is a leak. Although developers in the
information technology ecosystem continuously cryptography the process remains
secure and manipulation does not take place.
But remember nothing is completely foolproof in the technology world and
they have to keep on upgrading to keep ahead of the hackers.
Encryption
in a digital signature assures that the document or message certified by the
authority has not been changed or tampered with. In this article, we will see
how encryption and decryption take place, and how it is checked to ensure no
manipulation has taken place.
Cryptographical
Key Generation
This type
of encryption is used in the case of electronic data signing and messaging is
known as cryptography. The technique turns readable data into illegible
characters that cannot be read without the use of the public key. The
characters form a list of alphanumerical dots and dash to represent what makes
it illegible.
In this
case, a public key is a must to open the document after the signer has created
encryption using the private key. In rare instances, the private is also used
to open the document but usually, it is the public key that performs the act as
it is sent along with the documents. The private is always kept a secret.
The
process is known as symmetric key cartography but when a public key is used for
opening cryptic messages, or documents it is called asymmetric cryptography.
This is
also known as key pair technology and data encrypted using hash algorithms.
While the public key is used to open the document, the data sender keeps
privately stored in his computer or other storage devices.
Encryption
in a digital signature assures that the document or message certified by the
authority has not been changed or tampered with.
List of
Hash Algorithms
• MD5
• SHA-1
• SHA-2
• NTLM
• LANMAN
• SHA 256
The hash
value generated by these mathematical algorithms is non-reversible and not
possible to manipulate on electronic messaging systems. They generate the same
value every time for a given document using mathematical algorithms. But in
some instances, the process has resulted in two unique data
returning the same hash values which is bad for security. Thus SHA 256 is most
often used, it was designed by the United States National Security Agency and
first published in the year 2001.
Digital
Signature Certificate
The
certificate is issued by a certifying authority in India authorized by CCA or
the Controller of Certifying Authorities. The certification is issued based on
IT Pan, Aadhar card, and video verification. The certificate contains:
• User's
Name or Organization's Name
• Email
Address
• Pin Code
• Issue
Date
• Expiry
Date
• Public
Key
Cryptography
in Digital Signature
In this
process, the electronic document or messages are first encrypted using a hash
algorithm. The hash value or digest results after encryption. The
alphanumerical string is fixed as far as the size is concerned irrespective of
the size of the document being encrypted. Thus, the object is represented in a
cryptic form that cannot be deciphered without the use of a key generated by
the sender.
DSC or
Digital Certification by Certifying Authority or Partner
The sender
or the signer is to send the public key and required documents to the CA for
the issuance of the digital certification. The sender then sends the digest and
public key along with the digital signature certification issued by CA to the
receiver. The DSC issued by the certifying authority thus acts as an
authentication for the receiver for the required purpose. You can also forward
the application to the subsidiary a partner of the CA to issue DSC. The
certifications are priced according to the type and the purpose they solve. You
can apply for digital signatures online and send them to the CA for processing.
