With documents moving from paper to electronic form, signatures also had to move along the same lines. In countries like USA, EU and Australia, electronic signatures have the same validity as conventional signatures provided they fall within the definition of legal electronic signatures.
1. A digital signature that involves generation of a private key and a corresponding public key is only one kind of electronic signature. Legally, electronic signatures can take several forms, including email messages that cannot be changed, facsimile (FAX) copies of signed documents and encoded messages like telegraphs.
2. A digital signature is generated with a message and the private key at the signer’s end. At the recipient’s end, the signature is verified using the public key along with the message and the signature. Cryptography is used to create and verify the signature.
3. An electronic signature has been defined as “an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record” by U.S. Code.
4. Even though the definition of electronic signature is thus a broad one, it is easier to prove the authenticity of digital signatures. A signer cannot repudiate the signature simply on the ground that the private key has been compromised if it can be proved that the signature cannot be generated without knowing the private key.
5. However, it is a good practice to encrypt the message also along with the digital signature so that it cannot be seen and altered during transmission. Encrypted messages can be decrypted only with the relevant key.
6. Biometric signatures that use unique individual features such as fingerprints and iris patterns are also increasingly used. Such signatures are attached to documents like passports and visas, and are matched with the fingerprints/iris patterns of the individual carrying them.
7. Yet another development is digitizing the entire signing procedure. Documents are hand signed and the signing process is electronically recorded to include unique factors like hand pressure, and these are also encrypted. At the receivers end, these aspects are also verified before accepting the signature.
8. Even with all the developments, electronic signatures have also been forged/spoofed. Even biometric sensors have been fooled by persons wearing masks. However, it is more difficult to forge these compared to forging conventional signatures.
9. To verify the genuineness of electronic signatures, businesses typically consider the continuing relationship with the signer, advance payments and such incidental factors.
Considerable progress has been achieved in signing documents electronically in a way that is hard to forge or spoof. Biometric and dynamically recorded signings are examples. Even with all these developments, electronic signatures are not completely foolproof, only much harder to forge compared to hand signatures.