What Are The Common Aspects To Know About Digital Signature Certificate?
A digital signature certificate or DSC is an electronic form of a signature. In simpler terms, it is a secure digital key that is issued by certifying authorities. Its main use is to authenticate and certify the identity of the person holding this certificate. Note that digital signatures usually make use of the public key encryptions to ensure that they are secured. A DSC comprises information related to the user’s name, country, email address, and date of issuance.
The Importance of a Digital Signature Certificate
A DSC validates your identity in the realm of the electronic world. If you use online transaction platforms frequently, you might need a DSC. It is because the DSC ensures the absolute privacy of your information. Interestingly, you can also use these certificates to encrypt sensitive financial information. In this manner, only the intended recipient can read it only. With the help of a digital signature certificate, you can verify your identity as the sole sender of the message.
Various scenarios where you can use the digital signature certificate
Here is the list of scenarios where using DSC is beneficial. They are as follows:
- For the purpose of sending and receiving digitally encrypted mails
- To carry out secured web-based transactions in financial platforms
- DSC plays a crucial role in facilitating a paperless office
- These signatures are quite important in case of e-Tendering and filing Income Tax returns
- You can also use DSC while signing documents like MSWord and PDFs
Role of the Certifying Authority of the digital signature certificate
A Certifying Authority abbreviated as CA is a reliable agency whose main responsibility is to renew and revoke the directories of DSC. To be precise, Section 24 of the Information Technology Act 2000 has a proper definition for CA. As per the Act, a CA means an individual who has been permitted to issue DSC. However, a CA must be licensed and approved by concerned authorities to issue DSC. Thus, you should obtain a digital signature certificate from a licensed Certifying Authority.
The functioning of the DSC
Note that a DSC associates itself with a pair of electronic keys. These electronic keys are usually public and private keys. These keys work in such a way that they cannot work in the absence of the other. These keys are usually used by browsers and servers to encrypt and decrypt information. Note that the private key is usually stored on the hard drive of the computer of the user. On the other hand, the public key stays on the server with high levels of encryption.