An electronic document is said to be secure
where any security procedure has been applied to the electronic document at a
specific point of time. Such a document is deemed to be secure till the time of
verification. But there is no presumption about the integrity and authenticity
of the electronic record. To create a legally bound electronic document is
technologically complex. A legally enforceable electronic document must pass
the test of authentication, non-repudiation, confidentiality, and information
integrity during transmission or storage. The key element in the authentication
of a paper-based document is the signature of the contracting persons. Likewise
an electronic signature is the key in an electronic record. The equivalent
electronic signature is referred to as digital signature. A digital signature
is to identify the sender of the electronic record, authenticate the originator
of the message and to certify that the message could not have been tampered with
during the course of its transmission. The process of making the information
unintelligible to the unauthorized reader is known as encryption of data. The
process of making the information readable once again is known as decryption of
data. The science of Cryptography is made up of encryption and decryption.
There are two types of Cryptographic systems - symmetric and asymmetric. The
symmetric Crypto system consists of both the sender and the receiver having
access and sharing a common 'Key' to encrypt or decrypt a message. The
asymmetric Crypto system is a more a secure system. This system uses two keys.
The originator of the document
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