Digital Signatures?

I'm sure we've all heard of or used a website that requested that we use a digital signature. But what does that mean? Handwritten signatures are used for signing important documents because everyone has a unique handwriting and not many people are that adept at forging signatures so it's a relatively secure method. But do digital signatures have the same type of security?

Well, according to DocuSign.com, digital signatures are actually secure because they use encryption to hide the name that you input, thereby making the signature unique. DocuSign in particular requires the provider to use a mathematical algorithm to generate two numbers called keys. One of the keys is public and the other is private. When you sign a document electronically, you use your private key which, when sent off, is encrypted through the mathematical algorithm. The document also has a time stamp so that the document cannot be changed without the signer and the receiver getting notice. The public key is used by receivers of the document to ensure that the document was actually signed by who is was supposed to be and that it hadn't been tampered with after being sent off. Because of these secure methods, electronic signatures are actually considered legally binding in the US and in many other countries. It's also more widely accepted because it is easier to send documents electronically and because there are more measures to ensure that the documents have not been tampered with.

References:

"Are Electronic Signatures Legal?" DocuSign. N.p., 21 Oct. 2016. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

"DSC IN INDIA – Offers Digital Signature Certificate, Class 3, Class 2, DGFT, Digital Signature Provider in Delhi, Digital Signature Certificate Providers in India, Digital Signature at Lowest Price, Buy Digital Signature Online." DSC IN INDIA Offers Digital Signature Certificate Class 3 Class 2 DGFT Digital Signature Provider in Delhi Digital Signature Certificate Providers in India Digital Signature at Lowest Price Buy Digital Signature Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

"How Digital Signatures Work." DocuSign. N.p., 02 Nov. 2016. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

Patel, Anant. "Advantages and Disadvantages Of Digital Signature | Digital India Insight." Digital India Insight. N.p., 21 Dec. 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

"What Is a Digital Signature?" HowStuffWorks. N.p., 14 Aug. 2008. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

More Encryption??

Do you know how your passwords are stored on the internet? I thought I did until I found out that the password I set was being saved as something completely different after I hit save. While some websites are more secure and protected than others, every password protected website you use uses a similar algorithm to protect you and your privacy.

Most websites take plain text passwords (let's use 123 as an example) and use one way encryption called hashing to make them more secure. There are multiple hashing algorithms such as MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256 that take the password you put in to the server and save it to memory as a completely different, encrypted password. 123, for example, is hashed by MD5 as 202cb962ac59075b964b07152d234b70. Would you have thought of that?

Some hashing algorithms go the extra mile and add something called a "salt" to the encryption of your plain text password. This "salt" is a string of random characters that is added to some part of the password you input before it is encrypted. This makes your password super protected against hackers because it's pretty hard to determine the salts of many different passwords.

So if you have anything you need to hide, make sure that you're vigilant in finding out which of your websites keep your passwords (and your information) safe and protected. According to CloudFare, the best and easiest way to figure out if a website securely stores your password is to utilize the "lost password" option on the login page. If the website emails you your password in the same plain text that you entered, it does not use encryption or hashing and your account can very easily be hacked and viewed.

References:

@HubNestInc. "How Secure Are Your Passwords? - It Depends on How They're Stored in Databases." Secure Password Storage. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Gordon, Whitson. "How Your Passwords Are Stored on the Internet (and When Your Password Strength Doesn't Matter)."Lifehacker. N.p., 20 June 2012. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Held, Matthew. "5 Password Strategies To Keep Intruders Out." The Huffington Post. N.p., 29 Dec. 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

 Jones, Adam, Alexandra Vasiliu, Stratos Sam, and Cezar Renta. "How To: Get Full-disk Encryption in Windows 10." FileCluster How Tos. N.p., 04 Dec. 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.