Digital Signature

Top 10 uses of DSC

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What is a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)?

A Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) is a digital key that can be used to verify and certify the identity of the person who holds it. Digital Signatures use the public vital encryptions for the creation of signatures.

Digital signature certificates (DSCs) contain information about the user, including their name, pin code and country. They also include email addresses, the date of issue of the certificate, as well as the name of the certifying authorities.

Different classes of DSC

The Digital Signature Certificate type and purpose determine the type of DSC that one should apply for, depending on their needs. The certifying authorities can issue three types of Digital Signature Certificates.

Class 1 Certificates

These certificates are issued to private subscribers or individuals and confirm that the users email address and name are in the database.

Class 2 Certificates

These certificates are issued to directors/signatory officials of companies in order to e-file with the Registrar of Companies. Individuals who must sign manual documents and file returns with the ROC will need a Class 2 certificate. The Controller of Certifying Authority has ordered that Class 2 Certificates be canceled and that Class 3 Certificates be issued in their place.

Class 3 Certificates

These certificates are used in online participation/bidding in e-auctions. Online tenders from anywhere in India, vendors who wish to participate in online tenders must have a Class 3 digital signature certificate.

Uses of a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)

1. Signature Authentication

One of the most common uses, DSC is used to check the authenticity of signatures for any important documents or cheques. It can also be used to verify documents. It helps in generating both public and private keys in order to verify the authenticity of the documents. Personal Identification Numbers (PIN), Codes and Passwords can also be verified using the same digital signature used to verify documents and mails.

2. Cryptographic Algorithms

Digital Signature Certificates are very much useful for cryptographic algorithms. It includes symmetric and asymmetric encryptions where the public key is used for encryption and the private key is used for decryption in asymmetric encryption. This means that messages can be encrypted by anyone using the public key but the same message can be decrypted only by the end receiver or sender using the private key. Apart from this, with the help of key encryption the DSC can be used to find the origin of the message.

3. Certificate Verification

With the onset of technology, issuing of fake certificates to get jobs or admissions in reputed colleges are increasing. Digital Signature Certificates comes as a Certification Authority that gives digital signature encryption to candidates in order to verify fake certificates.

4. Data Validation

Codes are provided by digital signatures to check the validity and authenticity of raw data before the verification or processing of any data happens. This helps in prevention of data exchange and analysis which is very common nowadays, and even a small mismatch will end up bringing your business to ground. DSCs makes it easy to further analyse data without any confusion.

5. Service Provider Validation

Digital Signature Certificates help a person or a company validate signatures and documents - they are called Trusted person validation - these persons can validate and provide assurance on behalf of the company. Reports are provided on the basis of the documents validated which can be helpful for companies that have a bulk amount of reports lined up for validation.

6. Digital Market

With digitalization of the masses, the buying and selling of various products have also entered the online market. It has become necessary to check the authenticity of traders before you enter in any kind of transactions. A Public Key Infrastructure or PKI, is an internationally recognized technology that helps traders to trade smoothly in the international market. This helps the vendorto generate vendor keys so that they can be trusted. PKI is legally accepted, hence in case of any trouble, it can help the trader or persons involved in the trade to identify the culprits easily.

7. Time Authentication and Validation

It is a known fact that share markets need a lot of time investment. Even a slight change in the date of the document as provided by the company can end in buying or selling of the same stock. This can both be profitable for some companies while recur losses for many. Digital Signature Certificates play a crucial role in validating the time for share markets. Also in case of lottery tickets and legal issuances where date and time plays a crucial role, DSCs help in their validation.

8. Time and Cost Savings

DSCs can be a time saver for companies in making the people sign documents online and saving the same for future use. It is also cost saving because you can save money by storing your crucial documents online and retrieving them whenever needed. These important documents can be stored in servers for which a dynamic key is provided for each folder making your digital life easier with utmost priority to document safety.

9. Tracing the Documents

Signing and passing on a document offline physically can lead to loss of traces of the origin of the document. DSCs are a smart way to trace the origin as well as transfer of any document.

10. Eco-friendly

DSCs are good news for Environmentalists - as it saves the use of paper by making digital signatures authorized and valid everywhere. They help with encryption of documents and saving them online in the servers. Physical documents transferring might sometimes need transport costs, which can be reduced in the case of DSCs, which also defers any security issues.

Key Takeaways

  • The Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology is an armour to Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs). It provides high level security and helps prevent duplication of any document.
  • DSCs can make office paperwork much more efficient, while laws regarding this technology differ from one country to another.
  • Digital signatures are gaining popularity and more companies are opting for them. This makes it easier to create a secure and efficient workplace.
  • Digital signatures are legal in many countries, including North America, Europe, and APAC. They have the same value and legality as hand signatures.

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  • Class 3 Certificates
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