What do you mean by ‘Digital Signature’? Is there any difference between Digital signature and Electronic signature? Elucidate.
A digital signature is a type of electronic signature that uses a combination of public key cryptography and hashing to provide a secure and verifiable method for signing electronic documents. Digital signatures provide a higher level of security and authenticity than traditional electronic signatures, as they cannot be easily forged or tampered with.
Public key cryptography is a method of encrypting and decrypting information using a pair of keys: a public key and a private key. The public key is used to encrypt the message, while the private key is used to decrypt it. In the case of digital signatures, the private key is used to sign the document, while the public key is used to verify the signature.
A hash function is a mathematical algorithm that takes an input (such as a message or document) and produces a fixed-size output, known as a hash or message digest. The hash function is designed to be one-way, meaning that it is difficult or impossible to recreate the original input from the hash. When a document is signed with a digital signature, a hash of the document is created and encrypted with the private key. This encrypted hash is then appended to the document, forming the digital signature.
The main difference between a digital signature and an electronic signature is the level of security and authenticity provided. Electronic signatures are simply a way of signing an electronic document, but they do not provide the same level of security as digital signatures. Digital signatures use advanced encryption techniques to ensure that the document has not been tampered with and that the signature is authentic, while electronic signatures may be easily forged or tampered with. As a result, digital signatures are generally considered to be more reliable and trustworthy than electronic signatures.
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