A low-down on... Digital Signatures

 

Gallery

Posted on 17 Sep 2001 at 17:07

As we become increasingly involved with electronic transactions - whether it be buying, selling or communicating personal information - the role of the digital signature will be central.

However, this will not be a lengthy exposition on the principles of cryptography or encryption. Rather, the emphasis will be more practical - on why digital signatures are important and how they can be used.

I, the undersigned

In medieval times people used elaborate wax seals to verify both the origin of documents and the fact that they hadn't been tampered with. In more recent times, our own particular signature in ink is accepted for official documents or transactions. But as we get ever more immersed in electronic transactions it is becoming more important that we agree new ways to put our own imprint on the transactions carried out in our name.

We can all envision a future when communications of every sort will be available pervasively and be carried out transparently (Microsoft's .NET being just one example). Whether it is buying a sandwich or a book, or issuing a command to turn on the home entertainment system in our networked home (as we swish up the long drive in our Net-connected car, hopefully having successfully opened the electronically-controlled gates), we will need to identify ourselves uniquely. At some point the need for personal verification will become increasingly necessary.

UK citizens in the digital economy

What is the government's position on the role of digital signatures? Only recently, at the end of August 2001, the government-appointed e-Envoy, Andrew Pinder, announced plans to examine the use of digital signatures in the UK. The idea was to develop a "coherent framework enabling citizens, business and Government alike, to realise the full benefits of the digital economy".

As part of the announcement, new Policy Working Groups have been set up to cover the use of digital signatures by citizens and by businesses, as well as the possible role of smart cards (these become involved because such cards are one way of making the technology of digital signatures easier to use).

"Digital signatures are fundamental to the development of trust in e-commerce and e-government," maintained Pinder, "but for a variety of reasons they are not yet in widespread use. The Policy Working Groups will address the barriers to wider take-up, and consider how the technology should best be used to enhance on-line privacy." Public consultation papers should be available by December 2001.

Whether this will prove to be the first step to significantly extend and formalise the concept of written signatures into the electronic business of the UK, or whether it is the brave talk of a bureaucratic panjandrum, remains to be seen. What is sure, however, is that digital signatures will underpin any serious growth of electronic commerce.

Where commerce meets privacy

The lack of a unified approach, however, to trust and privacy issues by the commercial giants of the hi-tech world was highlighted recently in a speech by HP's CEO, Carly Fiorina, given at a Colorado conference organized by the Progress & Freedom Foundation.

She acknowledged that the IT industry had not lived up to its responsibilities in setting such standards. "I think we in the technology industry have fallen in love with technology. And in the end it is not about the technology," she said. "Privacy and security, or trust, are vital to consumers, and that is what we should focus on. There is a role for legislation."