A cryptographic signature is a digital fingerprintA digital fingerprint is a mathematical value used to identify an individual's unique digital signature, proof of identity, or ownership... Read More that allows someone to verify the authenticity of a message, document, or transactionA transaction is a record of an event that occurred in the past. Transactions typically occur during the course of... Read More. Cryptographic signatures use public-key cryptographyPublic-key cryptography is an encryption method employing two types of keys: a public key and a private key. Anyone with... Read More, which involves two keys: a private keyA private key is a cryptographic number that allows individuals to sign transactions and create new receiving addresses for their... Read More (known only to the individual who owns it) and a public keyA public key is a cryptographic key used to encrypt data. Any party can use a public key to encrypt... Read More (shareable with anyone). Creating a cryptographic signature requires the individual to create a hashA hash is a fixed-length code representing any length of words, messages, or data generated by a hashing algorithm. In... Read More of the data to be signed. This hash valueA hash value is the product of a hashing algorithm applied to original data to create a unique numerical value... Read More is combined with their private key using a digital signing algorithm (DSA)A digital signing algorithm (DSA) is a cryptographic algorithm used to create digital signatures. A digital signature is a mathematical... Read More. The resulting value—called a signature—can be verified by anyone with access to both the original data and the signer’s public key.
