Digital Signatures Question

techaus

Hey everyone,

I have two sets of practice tests on CD, both have a similar question on digital signatures but have different answers. One states that a digital signature is created using a public key but doesn't specify if it is the sender's or the receiver's. The other answer says that the signature is created using the sender's private key which the receiver then checks using the sender's public key. Can someone clear this up for me?

Thanks!

gojericho0

Its usually a hash that is then encrypted with the senders private key. The fact that it is encrypted with the private key makes the signature unique to that sender allowing the receiver to verify authentication of the sender and integrity of the message by decrypting the the hash with senders public key

The receiver then looks at the decrypted hash value and performs his own hash algorithm on the message and compares the two. If the same the integrity of the message has not been compromised

techaus

Thanks a ton. It's all clear now.