Advantages and Disadvantages of Digital Signatures

Advantages and Disadvantages of Digital Signatures

Sample Essay
The biggest advantage of using a Digital Signature is that the document or message cannot be altered or tempered with during its transit. Though the document or the message itself is not encrypted, the Digital Signature contains important information about the properties of the document, which if altered in anyway would fail the data integrity test.

Furthermore, Digital Signatures are also used to verify the identity of the sender and recipient. The message or document that is transferred over a public network is signed and verified using specific series of numbers which are only known to the sender or receiver.  Hence, digitally signing a document would guarantee the identification of sender as well as help in precisely directing the message to the right entity. Additionally, Digital Signatures also introduce the concept of non-repudiation which means that neither the sender nor the receiver can deny sending or receiving a particular document or message. Furthermore Digital Signatures can also incorporate automatic date and time stamps, which have a critical role in business transaction while improving the speed and accuracy of such transactions.

The disadvantages of Digital Signature include security concerns, technological compatibility issues as well as money. Though the use of Digital Signatures is very powerful way to secure and authenticate a message or document, its advantages are hampered by lost or theft of keys and the use of vulnerable storage facilities.  Furthermore, a number of Digital Signature standard exist which are incompatible with each other and there is a strong need of a standard through which these they can interact. Also the use of Digital Signature required additional money to be spent by the business in order to obtain Digital Signature services. This includes paying for the issuance of a Digital Signature as well as for the software that will be used to generate the Digital Signature (Bennett, 2009)


Findings from this research include:

• In 63% of organizations without digital signature systems, more than half of the process documents that are printed are
  done so solely for obtaining signatures.
• Speeding up approval processes and saving staff time are considered to be the biggest benefits by those who have implemented a digital signature solution.
• For 40% of non-users, half or more of their electronic document workflows are interrupted by the need for physical sign offs. For 23% of non-users, this results in a week or more of process delay on average.  
• 63% of digital signature users achieved a ROI in 12 months or less.
• 24% of respondents are already using digital signatures. A further 21% plan to implement them in the next 12
  months.

Why do we need a digital signature?  

Organizations throughout the world invest millions of dollars each year in automating their operations and business processes. As a result, electronic documentation permeates every aspect of the business workflow in industries ranging from engineering and healthcare to government and life sciences. Despite this, a hard copy is printed when a signature authorization is required on a document, requiring physical routing for signatures. The reintroduction of paper into the workflow increases organizational costs, requires additional time, and prohibits an organization from realizing the true benefits of a fully electronic workflow.
Digital signature solutions produce legally enforceable electronic records, closing the gap in going fully paperless by completely eliminating the need to print documents for signing. Digital signatures enable the replacement of slow and expensive paper-based approval processes with fast, low-cost, and fully digital ones.
Written by Digital Signature Mart