Express Learning: Cryptography and Network Security

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Digital Signatures and Authentication Protocols

1. What is digital signature? Discuss the various services it provides.

Ans.: A digital signature is an authentication mechanism that allows the sender to attach an electronic code with the message in order to ensure its authenticity and integrity. This electronic code acts as the signature of the sender and, hence, is named digital signature. Digital signatures use the public-key cryptography technique. The sender uses his or her private key and a signing algorithm to create a digital signature, and the signed document can be made public. The receiver, on the other hand, uses the public key of the sender and a verifying algorithm to verify the digital signature.

Digital signatures are analogous ...