What is the technical difference between an Electronic Signature and a Digital Signature?

All answers to this question.

Think of an eSignature as a handwritten mark, and a Digital Signature as a sealed, tamper-evident envelope with a verified ID inside.

   Answered 2024-01-09 by Jessica Brown

• Great analogy, Jessica! It’s all about the "tamper-evident" aspect that makes the Digital version the gold standard for Cyber Security compliance today.

     Commented 2024-01-10 by Sarah Jenkins

Does this mean that every user needs their own private key, or is the key managed by the platform provider on their behalf?

   Answered 2024-01-10 by David Clark

• David, in most commercial applications, the provider manages the keys in a secure Hardware Security Module (HSM). This makes it user-friendly. The provider verifies the user's identity (via email or SMS) and then applies the certificate. It balances high security with the ease of use that non-technical clients expect during a transaction.

     Commented 2024-01-12 by Thomas Wright

A digital signature is a specific, technically advanced type of eSignature. It uses asymmetric cryptography, specifically a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) system. When a person signs, a unique "fingerprint" called a hash is created for the document and encrypted using the signer's private key. In 2023, I led a migration to this system because it ensures "non-repudiation." If even one pixel in the PDF changes after the signature is applied, the cryptographic hash will no longer match, alerting all parties that the document has been tampered with.

   Answered 2024-06-15 by Patricia Williams