Ethical Hacking: Techniques, Tools, and Countermeasures, 4th Edition

Digital Signatures

Digital signatures, another useful implementation of cryptography, combine public key cryptography and hashing. Before we get into the technical aspects of digital signatures, think about what a traditional signature provides. A traditional signature on a document provides two features. First, the signature of an individual is unique to that individual and offers evidence of that person’s identity. Second, a traditional signature validates that the signing party agrees with the contents of the signed document. More formally, a traditional signature provides nonrepudiation because the signature is unique to each person, and it provides integrity because the signature is applied only to the document to which the signer agreed. ...