How can digital signatures be helpful in business?

In today’s modern, global society, communication is the keystone of every successful business. With that said, digital signatures are a useful way to increase the security and trustworthiness of your messages. They allow business people to communicate in ways they can’t with traditional paper-based processes, and they allow both parties to verify the authenticity of messages and documents. They are also useful for managing corporate records, distributed databases, electronic payments, and other electronic applications that previously required the use of paper. In this article, we’ll explore the core concepts of digital signatures.

Digital signature and equity management

Digital signatures now provide a practical authentication method that satisfies the legitimate needs of both parties who need to enter into transactions and deal with sensitive information electronically. Nowadays, with equity being managed online, the needs of equity management and their clients are met through digital signature. In addition to this, you can speed up the equity management process with a digital signature. Thus, equity management has become a necessity as it offers a cost-effective and feasible solution for businesses.

What is a digital signature?

Simply stated, it is an electronic version of your handwritten signature. It confirms and guarantees the authenticity of a message or file. Computers and software are at the heart of digital signature technology, which makes it possible to use your unique signature on any document or message. This provides an additional level of trust between correspondent parties in electronic communication systems.

How does a digital signature work?

It works fundamentally by means of a mathematical formula based on private key cryptography. The formula and private key are generated by the user who signs the message or document. The formula works by encrypting the data from the user’s private key. The encrypted data, along with another formula that represents the rights of the message or document, is then attached to the message. In simple words, a digital signature is a way of confirming the authenticity of any document by using a formula that represents the user’s private key. Hence, this technology offers security, speed, and convenience when dealing with electronic documents and messages.

Importance of digital signature in business

The importance of digital signature in business is to ensure a trusted and secure business atmosphere; one has to protect the integrity of messages and documents. Following are the top reasons why a digital signature is important for business organizations.

• Efficiency, speed, and authentication – A business organization has a need to create, store, and process messages in an efficient way. Doing this poses various key challenges, including securely protecting operations and data privacy and integrity of corporate operations. The role of digital signatures is thus to deal with these challenges. This technology allows users to sign electronic documents that are electronically delivered to recipients or originators within a secure digital environment.
• User experience – User experience is critical to the success of any business organization. When messages, transactions, and documents are signed with digital signatures, all of them become the digital equivalent of the traditional paper-based process. This provides a very convenient and reliable way to identify and track documents and messages. It makes communication and transactions much faster, smoother, and easier in your business-critical operations.
• Legal structure – The legal structure is a determining factor in the achievement of any business goal. It provides the legal framework for securing business operations by enabling trustworthy transactions. The structure also helps to apply laws to new technologies and prevent fraud in electronic communications. In this way, it provides a legal pathway to achieve trust in electronic communications systems.
• Secure – As discussed above, digital signature technology offers security, speed, and convenience when dealing with messages and documents online. It is used both for enforcing data integrity and non-repudiation and to protect against identity theft or unauthorized access to electronic resources and networks by external actors such as hackers or malware applications that identify vulnerabilities and exploit them.
• Transaction cost – It is a cost-effective way of conducting business. The digital signature reduces transaction costs, improves the efficiency and quality of business processes, and enables faster, more secure transactions between businesses and individuals. Furthermore, it can help to improve the efficiency of back-office operations and can reduce overhead costs for all parties involved in sending messages or documents.

Level of digital signature by the European union

The European Union (EU) recognizes the use of digital signatures as a legal means of signing electronic messages in the e-Evidence framework. In the framework, digital signatures are defined as a means of signing electronic messages by using a cryptographic technique. Furthermore, it ensures that the message has not been tampered with and allows the verifier to verify that the signer is indeed who they claim to be. The EU framework also introduces an electronic signature certificate, which is a cryptographic technique used to identify users in electronic communications. Following are the levels of digital signature defined by the EU.

• Standard Electronic Signature (SES) – SES is the lowest level of electronic signature recognized by the EU. SES does not offer legal recognition of the signature with a low level of liability risk. For example, announcements, notifications, and internal contracts can be signed using SES.
• Advanced Electronic Signature (AES) – An advanced digital signature recognized by the EU. The level of liability offered by the EU for AES is higher than that for SES but lower than that for a qualified digital certificate with legally binding effect. As a result, AES can be used in a wide range of situations like rental agreements, account opening, or contract of sale.
• Qualified Digital Certificate (QDC) – A qualified digital certificate is a policy document that certifies a legal relationship between two or more parties. The level of liability for a qualified digital certificate is higher than all levels of digital signature above – for example, audit reports, consumer credit contact, or entry with authorities.

Thus, it provides legal protection to customers and businesses when signing electronic messages. This technology is essential in the process of executing or processing an e-contract, ensuring the legitimacy and authenticity of the message. Moving forward to the ‘How to create digital signature’ section, we shall discuss some of the points and tips to help you create a digital signature.

Process of implementing digital signature for your business

It is essential to create a digital signature for your company, as it helps to build trust and credibility. The digital signature process consists of three steps; follow the steps mentioned below to create a digital signature.

• Key Generation – The first step involves generating a public and private key pair and keeping both keys in a secure digital environment so that they cannot be copied or tampered with. It is advisable to use a trusted service provider that offers key generation services in order to protect your keys from unauthorized access. Thus, it is important to generate the public and private keys properly in order to ensure that you remain in control of your digital assets.
• Signing – The second step involves signing the document with the help of a private key and following standard security practices to ensure that only the intended recipient can read the message. The signer is also required to confirm their identity in the process by providing their unique digital signature certificate. Signing a document can be done with many different methods like electronic signature software, smart cards, or cryptographic token devices.
• Verification – The last step is to verify that the correct digital signature has been used at a particular time and date. The verification involves examining whether the standard practices have been followed while signing a document. It is necessary to verify as otherwise, it will not be legally recognized or accepted by businesses or by state agencies in most cases.

Where can you use digital signatures?

As discussed in the previous section, creating a digital signature helps you to reduce the risk of fraud, legal repercussions, and data theft. Moreover, it also helps in establishing trust between the two parties involved in the transaction. Here are some of the business documents that can be digitally signed with ease.

• Contracts – A contract is an agreement between two or more parties, which outlines the terms and conditions of their relationship. The use of digital signatures helps you to ensure the legitimacy of your contracts as they are legally binding and it becomes easier to prove that both parties have signed the agreement with their own consent.
• Purchase orders – An order placed for goods or services is called a purchase order. When you digitally sign a purchase order, your signature provides proof that both parties have agreed to the transaction terms.
• Sales invoices – Vendors or sellers generate a sales invoice to record the details of the sale of goods and services. A digital signature allows you to keep track of your payments and purchases made by you.
• Customer agreements – The terms and conditions are incorporated in the customer agreement, and these provisions can be signed digitally for proof of authenticity, integrity, and security.
• Company reports and presentations – These reports or presentations can be digitally signed to ensure that the report’s authenticity is ensured. Moreover, it also provides evidence of the date and time when the concerned authority signed these reports.
• Corporate communications and documents – The official corporate communications can be digitally signed to ensure that all your employees are aware of changes in policies and procedures, which are necessary for them to perform their work efficiently.
• Employee contracts and agreements – Any changes in an employment contract are legally binding as they are digitally signed by both parties involved in the transaction – the employee and employer.
• Financial documents related to the company – Financial documents such as loans, stocks, and bonds can be digitally signed to create a record of the debit and credit activity of your company.
• Government license and permit applications – When you are applying for a license or permit from a government agency, it is important that you get it digitally signed as this helps in proving your identity.
• Documents related to fee structures, budgeting, and payments – You can use a digital signature to digitally sign documents related to fee structures, budgeting, and payments. This helps in preventing any changes in the documents once authorized officials have signed it.

Efficiently manage your business equity on Eqvista!

From the above discussion, it is evident that digital signature plays a vital role in ensuring the transparency of business transactions and verifying the legitimacy of business documents. It also helps to reduce the risk of fraud, legal repercussions, and data theft. It is essential for businesses to begin adopting digital signatures as soon as possible in order to protect their reputation. Eqvista is here to help you from managing equity to digital signature and beyond. Eqvista provides a complete strategy, implementation, support services, and continuous enhancements.