DSC

Which type of DSC should I Buy? – Signature Only, or Encryption Combo?

It entirely depends on what purpose you are going to use the DSC.

• Signature Only: If you choose this option during purchase, you can use DSC for digitally signing the documents. Popular usages include signing PDF documents for Tax Returns Filing, MCA, Legal Contracts, and many other websites.
• Encryption Combo: You can use the DSC to both sign and also encrypt documents. This option includes Digital Signature and Encryption features. Encryption is popularly used in tender portal, to help your company encrypt the bid documents and upload.

Digital Signature Certificate

In cryptography, a public key certificate (also known as a digital certificate or identity certificate) is an electronic document that uses a digital signature to bind a public key with an identity — information such as the name of a person or an organization, the address, and the email address. The certificate can be used to verify that a public key belongs to an individual.

In a typical public-key infrastructure (PKI) scheme, the signature will be of a certificate authority (CA). In a web of trust scheme, the signature is of either the user (a self-signed certificate) or other users (“endorsements”). In either case, the signatures on a certificate are attestations by the certificate signer that the identity information and the public key belong together.

A Digital signature will include a message/ document which is signed with the sender’s private key, upon signing a hash value is generated which is transmitted with the message. On receiving the message is deciphered by user who has access to the sender’s public key. The verification proves that the sender had access to the private key, and therefore is likely to be the person associated with the public key. This also ensures that the message has not been tampered with, as any manipulation of the message will result in changes to the encoded message, which otherwise remains unchanged between the sender and receiver.

Contents of a Digital Signature Certificate

• Serial Number: Used to uniquely identify the certificate.
• Subject: The person, or entity identified.
• Signature Algorithm: The algorithm used to create the signature.
• Signature: The actual signature to verify that it came from the issuer.
• Issuer: The entity that verified the information and issued the certificate.
• Valid-From: The date the certificate is first valid from.
• Valid-To: The expiration date.
• Key-Usage: Purpose of the public key (e.g. decipherment, signature, certificate signing…).
• Public Key: The public key.

PKI

PKI (Public key Infrastructure) is an arrangement in cryptography that facilitates third party examination of, and vouching for, user identities. PKI allows the binding of public keys to users. These public keys are most frequently stored in certificates. This binding of public keys to users is usually carried out by software in a central location, in coordination with other associated software components installed in distributed locations.