How Secure Are eSignatures?
eSignatures are a secure and convenient way for businesses to streamline contract workflows. They are also legally binding in many jurisdictions. To ensure security, look for an eSignature solution that embeds signature images and key event timestamps directly in documents. This can help prevent tampering and verify authenticity.
Also, make sure that the eSignature solution you choose meets the standards and regulations of your industry. Check for certifications and compliance with industry-specific laws like GDPR in Europe.
Asymmetric key cryptography
Digital signatures verify the authenticity of documents, software and messages. They are used in many applications, including secure email, financial transactions, legal and government documents, healthcare, cryptocurrencies, and software distribution. The technology behind a digital signature is based on asymmetric key cryptography, which involves two separate keys: public and private. The private key cannot be duplicated, and it is linked to a specific person. This ensures the integrity of data, and prevents spoofing or forgery.
This method is more secure than traditional written signatures, which can be forged through coercion or trickery. However, it can still be attacked through side-channel attacks, and several asymmetric key algorithms have major weaknesses. In addition, there are few systems that can be guaranteed to have the correct private key in a given situation.
In order to use digital signatures, both sender and recipient must have a digital certificate issued by a trusted authority. These certificates are used to bind a person’s identity to their public key, which is then used to verify the signature. This process requires that both parties keep their certificates up to date. In the past, this involved distributing new certificates yearly and requiring people to install special software or USB tokens that could hold them. Yozons has developed a solution that removes these barriers, making it possible for companies to offer eSignatures without requiring users to install software or wait a year for their certificates to expire.
Evidence-based authentication
Collecting strong evidence is one of the most important components to ensure the legal enforceability of an esignature. This evidence includes the exact appearance and order of each document or web screen signed, as well as detailed logging of the signer’s actions like clicking to accept, sign, initial, or confirm. It also traces back to the signer’s IP address, and can include key event timestamps. This information can be used to prove that the signature was not tampered with.
This evidence-based authentication can be combined with tamper sealing, which encrypts and digitally seals the original document to prevent changes or forgery. This is especially useful for records containing sensitive information that need a higher level of security. It also makes the eSignature more trustworthy for users, as it provides stronger court-admissible proof than a simple wet or scanned image of a signature on a PDF.
While many people are still concerned about the security of eSignatures, they’re actually more secure than traditional wet signatures. This is because they are more difficult to tamper with and have court-admissible audit reports. In addition, they can be paired with other advanced features to make them even more secure, such as tamper verification and time stamping. This will ensure that the record is accurate and was signed by the intended party.
Audit trails
Many people are reluctant to use digital signature technology because they’re afraid the signatures won’t be legal. Luckily, they can rest assured that their e-signature vendor has them covered in court. Many e-signature services offer an audit trail, which is a digital record of the entire signing process. It records the time, date and the transaction status. It also includes the name, email address, and unique signing identifier of each signatory. It can also include records like IP addresses and machine IDs to further track the document’s history. It can be useful for regulatory compliance and other purposes. Audit trails can also be used to prevent unauthorized access to information and data. This is done by ensuring that all changes to the original document are logged.
An audit trail can be very helpful if the document is ever challenged in court. It allows attorneys to provide corroborating evidence and prove that the document was signed correctly. The audit trail is an important feature that makes eSignatures as legally binding as traditional wet ink signatures.
While most electronic signature services offer some sort of audit trail, the level of detail captured and stored can vary widely. For example, some services only log when a signature is added to the document and not how it was added. This can lead to inconsistencies in the audit trail if it is ever challenged in court.
Multi-factor authentication
When you use eSignatures, you’ll want to ensure that the signer is who they say they are. To do this, you can use a variety of authentication methods, including multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA is a security measure that requires two or more types of means to verify identity. This prevents hackers from gaining access to sensitive information by impersonating the real user.
A MFA solution uses different factors to confirm the identity of the signer, and can include a password or hardware tokens. In addition, it can include SMS-based one-time passwords or push notifications. Any combination of these factors can be used to secure eSignatures and keep them safe from unauthorized users.
While eSignatures are an increasingly common way for businesses to sign contracts, they pose some risks. Cybercriminals can use social engineering to dupe signers into signing documents and then gain access to their personal or business data. This is why many companies and government agencies have implemented various safety measures to protect eSignatures.
Some of these measures include a masked tag, which conceals the signer’s personally identifiable information (PII) and other confidential information. In other cases, the eSignature platform can compare the signer’s face against images from government-issued ID documents or use knowledge-based authentication to verify the signer’s identity. This type of verification can be done remotely, and is particularly important when dealing with high value transactions or unknown signers.
