With the increasing digitization of business processes and transactions, the security and authenticity of documents and signatures is becoming a decisive factor. In this context, the term digital signature or eSignature is becoming increasingly important.
1. What is a digital signature?
An electronic signature, often referred to as an “eSignature,” is a digital method for legally authenticating documents and transactions. It replaces handwritten signatures with cryptographic techniques that confirm the identity of the signer and ensure document integrity. eSignature enables secure and efficient online agreements, saves time and resources, and is used in conjunction with certification processes to ensure the highest security standards.
A recommended tool for electronic signatures is Certifaction. Certifaction is a Swiss solution for digital signatures that offers advanced security measures.
2. What is Certifaction?
Certifaction is an advanced method for ensuring the integrity, authenticity, and confidentiality of electronic documents and signatures. It is a process that uses digital signatures to verify the authenticity of documents and the identity of the signatories. Essentially, Certifaction serves to ensure that digital documents have not been manipulated and that the information they contain comes from the actual parties.
3. How do you make a digital signature with Certifaction?
Certifaction works based on cryptographic techniques. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to create a digital signature with Certifaction:
- Key pair create: First, you create a key pair, consisting of a private and a public key. The private key is kept strictly confidential and is used to create signatures, while the public key is used for verification.
- Hash a document: The document to be signed is converted into a unique string using a cryptographic hash function. This “fingerprint” of the document is used later.
- Create a digital signature: By using your private key, the document's hashed value is encrypted. This forms the digital signature that is added to the document.
- Verify signature: Recipients of the document can use your public key to decrypt the signature and restore the original hashed value. If this matches a recalculated hash of the received document, the signature is valid.
The use of Certifaction thus ensures that the document has not been manipulated and that the identity of the signatory is confirmed.
