"A digital signature is a mathematical scheme for verifying the authenticity of digital messages or documents."
A mathematical technique used to verify the authenticity of a digital message or document.
Cryptography: The study of techniques to secure communications in the presence of adversaries.
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI): A set of protocols, policies, and procedures used to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates and public keys.
Digital Certificates: A digital document that uses a public key infrastructure (PKI) to link a public key with an identity.
Key Generation: The process of generating public and private keys for use in digital signatures.
Hash Functions: A mathematical algorithm used to convert any input into a fixed size output, used to ensure integrity and authenticity of messages.
Certificate Authorities (CAs): A third-party trusted entity that issues digital certificates, typically using PKI.
Digital Signature Standards: Standards for ensuring the security of digital signatures, including X.509, PGP, and OpenPGP.
Authentication: The process of verifying the identity of a user or device.
Non-repudiation: The property that a signatory can't deny having signed a document.
Document Integrity: The ability to detect if a document has been modified since it was signed or issued.
Digital Signature Algorithms: The mathematical algorithms used to generate and verify digital signatures, such as RSA, DSA, and ECDSA.
Digital Signature Application: Software applications that provide digital signature capabilities, such as Adobe Acrobat and DocuSign.
Hardware Security Modules (HSMs): A physical device used to generate, store, and manage cryptographic keys, used to ensure security and trustworthy of digital signatures.
Smart Cards: Similar to HSMs, smart cards are credit-card-sized devices used to manage and securely store digital keys.
Timestamping: The process of adding a digital timestamp to a document or transaction, used to provide evidence of when a specific event occurred.
RSA Signature: A digital signature algorithm developed by RSA Security that involves the use of a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption.
DSA Signature: Digital Signature Algorithm developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) used to create digital signatures.
ECDSA Signature: Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm in which an elliptic curve over a finite field is used to create a digital signature.
EdDSA Signature: Edwards-curve Digital Signature Algorithm which is a digital signature scheme that is faster and more secure than ECDSA.
GOST Signature: This digital signature algorithm was developed in Russia and is commonly used in the Russian government.
HMAC Signature: A digital signature algorithm that uses a secret key to sign a message, and a receiver can check the signature with the secret key.
ElGamal Signature: A digital signature algorithm that involves the use of a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption.
Schnorr Signature: A digital signature algorithm that is similar to ElGamal but offers better performance and security.
Quantum Signature: This is an experimental digital signature algorithm that involves the use of quantum mechanics for secure communication.
Blind Signature: A digital signature algorithm that allows a message to be signed without being disclosed to the signer.
Threshold Signature: This digital signature algorithm uses multiple signers to create a signature, improving security and preventing single point of failure.
Group Signature: A digital signature algorithm where a group of people can sign a message, and the identity of the signer is kept private.
"A valid digital signature on a message gives a recipient confidence that the message came from a sender known to the recipient."
"Digital signatures are a standard element of most cryptographic protocol suites, and are commonly used for software distribution, financial transactions, contract management software, and in other cases where it is important to detect forgery or tampering."
"Electronic signatures have legal significance in some countries...but not all electronic signatures use digital signatures."
"Digital signatures employ asymmetric cryptography."
"Properly implemented, a digital signature gives the receiver reason to believe the message was sent by the claimed sender."
"Properly implemented digital signatures are more difficult to forge than the handwritten type."
"They can also provide non-repudiation, meaning that the signer cannot successfully claim they did not sign a message, while also claiming their private key remains secret."
"Further, some non-repudiation schemes offer a timestamp for the digital signature, so that even if the private key is exposed, the signature is valid."
"Digitally signed messages may be anything representable as a bitstring: examples include electronic mail, contracts, or a message sent via some other cryptographic protocol."
"Electronic signatures have legal significance in some countries, including Canada, South Africa, the United States, Algeria, Turkey, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Chile, and the countries of the European Union."
"Digital signatures are commonly used for software distribution."
"Digital signatures are commonly used...in other cases where it is important to detect forgery or tampering."
"A valid digital signature on a message gives a recipient confidence that the message came from a sender known to the recipient."
"A digital signature is a mathematical scheme for verifying the authenticity of digital messages or documents."
"Properly implemented digital signatures are more difficult to forge than the handwritten type."
"Digital signatures employ asymmetric cryptography."
"Digital signatures are commonly used for software distribution, financial transactions, contract management software, and in other cases where it is important to detect forgery or tampering."
"Digital signatures are equivalent to traditional handwritten signatures in many respects."
"Digitally signed messages may be anything representable as a bitstring: examples include electronic mail, contracts, or a message sent via some other cryptographic protocol."