The digital signature is a cryptographic tool that allows guaranteeing the authorship and verifying the authenticity and integrity of a digitally signed message and of certain data or documents, since it associates the identity of a person or computer equipment to the message sent. Thus, it offers the possibility of detecting counterfeiting and manipulation that is exchanged digitally.
The digital signature or virtual signature is the result of applying a mathematical algorithm (hash) to its content, and then assign a signature algorithm with a private key to the result of that operation. With it, in accounting termsWe can affirm that the digital signature works through complex mathematical procedures that allow associating the signed document with the signer's personal information, which allows third parties to identify the sender of the message and verify the veracity of the contents.
Characteristics of the digital signature
Taking into account the difference between digital signature and electronic signature, the characteristics of a digital signature are the following:
- Authentication: the digital signature is considered the equivalent of the physical signature of a document.
- Integrity: the message or digitally signed transactions cannot be modified.
- Non-repudiation at origin, that is, the issuer cannot deny under any circumstances having sent the message or having carried out a certain transaction.