Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Digital Signatures And Digital Certificates.

What is a Digital Signature?

Digital signatures are electronically generated and can be used to ensure the integrity and authenticity of some data, such as an e-mail message and protect against non-repudiation.

Are Digital Signatures legally valid in India?

Yes, after the enactment of Information Technology Act 2000 in India, Digital Signatures are legally valid in India.

What is a Digital Certificate?

A Digital certificate is a form of an electronic credential for the Internet. Similar to a driver's license, employee ID card, a Digital certificate is issued by a trusted third party to establish the identity of the certificate holder. The third party who issues the Digital Certificate is known as the Certifying Authority (CA).

What is the relationship between public keys and Digital Certificates?

A certificate is an electronic document that binds a public key to a particular individual or organization. A trusted third party, called a Certifying Authority (CA), issues certificates. Before issuing a certificate, a CA will go though a series of authentication procedures to make sure that you are what you claim to be, and that the public key in the certificate really belongs to you.The certificate is then encrypted (signed) with the CA's private key. Thus, if the end users trust the CA, and have the CAs public key, he can be sure of the certificate's legitimacy.

Is there any difference between Digital Certificate and Digital Signature?

Digital Signatures provide Authentication, Privacy, Non repudiation and Integrity in the virtual world .

Digital Certificates are digital documents attesting to the binding of a public key to an individual or specific entity. They allow verification of the claim that a specific public key does in fact belong to a specific individual.

Why do I need a Digital Certificate?

A Digital Certificate provides an electronic means of proving your identity. It also provides you with a high level of security for your online transactions.

Where can I use Digital Certificates?

You can use Digital Certificate for secure email and web-based transactions, or to identify other participants of web-based transactions. You can use Digital Certificates for signing web forms, e-tendering documents, filing income tax returns etc.

How does a Digital Certificate work ?

Certificates use the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI technology, which is a sophisticated, mathematically proven method of encrypting and decrypting information).