Overview

In 1998, the President of the United States signed a bill that recognized a Digital Signature to be as binding as a written signature. In other countries, digital signatures are also gaining acceptance, albeit slowly.

While the adoption of this form of authentication has been slow, it is anticipated that it will overtake the written signature in popularity as more signature requiring documents become electronic.

Because the digital signature is legally binding, digital signatures of users MUST be secured. You could apply a digital signature to a document using a simple username and password security schema; however, as discussed earlier, usernames and password are easier to compromise than two factor authentication devices like the SafeNet iKey. When it comes to a personal signature on an important document, the simple extra step of implementing an iKey could stop the possibility of forgery.

This iKey function is similar to Transaction Based Authentication, the difference being that Transaction Based Authentication enables a transaction whereas a Digital Signature Applier documents the transaction for tracking purposes.

How would it work with the iKey?
Applications such as Adobe, Comwares etc. have created easy to use interfaces for digital signatures.

On documents requiring a digital signature, a button is placed on the document. To apply a signature, a user simply clicks on the button. Users are then prompted to insert their iKey and enter their PIN. If the PIN matches the iKey, the digital signature is applied to the document. Many of these applications then "lock" the document in the form when the digital signature was applied, ensuring that the signed document cannot be changed. Some of these applications even go one step further and guarantee the authenticity of a document once a digital signature is applied. In the future when someone decides to check the document, all of the details associated with the digital signature such as who applied it, when it was applied, who issued the digital signature in the first place, and the like, may be viewed.