What is a Digital Signature?

An introduction to Digital Signatures, by David Youd

(Bob's public key)

Bob
(Bob's private key)

Bob has been given two keys. One of Bob's keys is called a Public Key, the other is
called a Private Key.

Bob's Co-workers:

Anyone can get Bob's

Bob's Public key is available to anyone who needs it, but he keeps his Private Key to
himself. Keys are used to encrypt information. Encrypting information means
"scrambling it up", so that only a person with the appropriate key can make it readable
again. Either one of Bob's two keys can encrypt data, and the other key can decrypt
that data.

Susan (shown below) can encrypt a message using Bob's Public Key. Bob uses his
Private Key to decrypt the message. Any of Bob's coworkers might have access to the
message Susan encrypted, but without Bob's Private Key, the data is worthless.

HNFmsEm6Un
"Hey Bob, how
BejhhyCGKOK
about lunch at
JUxhiygSBCEiC
Taco Bell. I
0QYIh/Hn3xgiK
hear they have
BcyLK1UcYiY
free refills!"
lxx2lCFHDC/A
 HNFmsEm6Un
"Hey Bob, how
BejhhyCGKOK
about lunch at
JUxhiygSBCEiC
Taco Bell. I
0QYIh/Hn3xgiK
hear they have
BcyLK1UcYiY
free refills!"
lxx2lCFHDC/A

With his private key and the right software, Bob can put digital signatures on
documents and other data. A digital signature is a "stamp" Bob places on the data
which is unique to Bob, and is very difficult to forge. In addition, the signature assures
that any changes made to the data that has been signed can not go undetected.

To sign a document, Bob's software will crunch down the data into just a
few lines by a process called "hashing". These few lines are called a
message digest. (It is not possible to change a message digest back into the
original data from which it was created.)

Bob's software then encrypts the message digest with his private key. The result is the
digital signature.
Finally, Bob's software appends the digital signature to document. All of the data that
was hashed has been signed.

Bob now passes the document on to Pat.

First, Pat's software decrypts the signature (using Bob's public key)
changing it back into a message digest. If this worked, then it proves that
Bob signed the document, because only Bob has his private key. Pat's
software then hashes the document data into a message digest. If the
message digest is the same as the message digest created when the
signature was decrypted, then Pat knows that the signed data has not been
changed.
Plot complication...
Doug (our disgruntled employee) wishes to deceive Pat. Doug makes sure
that Pat receives a signed message and a public key that appears to belong
to Bob. Unbeknownst to Pat, Doug deceitfully sent a key pair he created
using Bob's name. Short of receiving Bob's public key from him in person,
how can Pat be sure that Bob's public key is authentic?
It just so happens that Susan works at the company's certificate authority center. Susan
can create a digital certificate for Bob simply by signing Bob's public key as well as
some information about Bob.

Bob Info:
    Name
    Department
    Cubical Number

Certificate Info:
    Expiration Date
    Serial Number

Bob's Public Key:

Now Bob's co-workers can check Bob's trusted certificate to make sure that his public
key truly belongs to him. In fact, no one at Bob's company accepts a signature for
which there does not exist a certificate generated by Susan. This gives Susan the
power to revoke signatures if private keys are compromised, or no longer needed.
There are even more widely accepted certificate authorities that certify Susan.

Let's say that Bob sends a signed document to Pat. To verify the signature on the
document, Pat's software first uses Susan's (the certificate authority's) public key to
check the signature on Bob's certificate. Successful de-encryption of the certificate
proves that Susan created it. After the certificate is de-encrypted, Pat's software can
check if Bob is in good standing with the certificate authority and that all of the
certificate information concerning Bob's identity has not been altered.

Pat's software then takes Bob's public key from the certificate and uses it to check
Bob's signature. If Bob's public key de-encrypts the signature successfully, then Pat is
assured that the signature was created using Bob's private key, for Susan has certified
the matching public key. And of course, if the signature is valid, then we know that
Doug didn't try to change the signed content.

Although these steps may sound complicated, they are all handled behind the scenes
by Pat's user-friendly software. To verify a signature, Pat need only click on it.
(c) 1996, David Youd
Permission to change or distribute is at the discretion of the author

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