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Businesses face a lot of threats online. Malicious cyber activity cost the economy between $57 billion and $109 billion in 2016 alone, according to a White House report. For the victim company, the average adverse cyber event costs more than $7,000.
Digital signatures have emerged as one way to protect sensitive business documents. These signatures make sure that any sensitive information you share online will be seen only by the intended recipients.
These digital signatures go a lot further than an electronic signature (and they are quite different from a wet signature). Here are some of the benefits of digital signatures and how to make them a bigger part of your business.
A digital signature is a way to "seal" a document sent digitally and proves to the recipient that it hasn't been altered and is officially approved by you. These virtual fingerprints are unique to the sender and are not merely your handwriting like a typical signature. In fact, it may not feature your handwriting at all.
It is an encrypted stamp that can only be decrypted by the recipient, ensuring it is not intercepted and modified in transit. If the recipient gets the transmission and the digital signature does not match up with the digital certificate, then the document has been compromised.
A digital signature’s encryption is primarily what separates it from electronic signatures.
Digital signatures create a "hash" of the message. A hash is a string of numbers and letters that are pulled from the message, file, or document based on a mathematical algorithm.
The hash is unique to the file, and any changes after the hash is created would change the hash. The sender signs the message or file digitally and then sends it to the recipient, who also generates a hash and then decrypts the sender's hash using the public key provided by the sender.
The hashes are compared, and if they match, the message is considered authentic.
Before creating your own digital signature, learn a few key terms as described by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA):
So, why would you want a digital signature? After all, you know the company or individual in question. Is it really necessary? Here are a few reasons why a digital signature is a must if you are dealing with any legal or business documents online.
In order to use this process, you must digitally sign files with specialized software. These software solutions use hashes, public keys, encryption, and certificates that would be difficult for most people to create themselves. However, you can create your own digital certificates through services such as Sectigo.
Sometimes when people use the term “digital signature,” what they really mean is an electronic signature, which is when you use software to “sign” a document online.
Several software options create electronic signatures or digital signatures -- and sometimes both. These step-by-step instructions will help you navigate each of them.
Adobe uses Adobe Sign to digitally sign PDF documents.
DocuSign is a popular free digital signature option, and the process is straightforward for signers.
You can digitally sign both documents and spreadsheets in Microsoft Office.
HelloSign is a free electronic signature service that allows you to create simple signatures for either yourself or others. It does not create digital signatures.
If you’d like to create your digital signature processes, check out some of the best electronic signature software options. This software can help with other tasks, such as business document management or creating an electronic filing system.
Keep in mind the difference between electronic and digital signatures. The former is attached to a contract or other record to show that the person agreed to what is described in the document, while the latter guarantees the document is authentic and has not been tampered with or accessed by unauthorized parties.
Look for software that specifically creates digital signatures and not merely electronic ones.
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