There are many documents that arrive every day to companies to be signed. Until recently, the normal procedure has been to print the document, sign it, scan it and resend it. And this continues on and on for every document.
A bit tedious, right? In addition to a constant -and considerable- expense in time as well as in paper, ink, and others. That is why the arrival of the e-signature was very well received among the different departments of the companies because it allows you to digitally sign a document at any time and from any place.
However, as much as electronic signature has tend to make things easy for every individual and company, some people are still far from knowing what this ultimate solution is.
So in this article, we have put together some important things you should know about the electronic signature.
What Is An Electronic Signature?
An electronic signature is a process that identifies a computer team or a person in the management and processing of electronic documents. How? Through cryptographic methods that ensure its security and authenticity. This allows both the receiver and the sender of a content to identify each other.
When you physically sign a document, your signature offers proof of your identity and confirms the authenticity of that document.
If we talk about electronic means or documents, a digital signature fulfills the same function as your lifelong physical signature, but with extra security added.
What Types Of Electronic Signature Are There?
Today, three types of electronic signature can be distinguished:
- Electronic signature: it is the most basic. It allows you to identify a signer, for example, through a username and password.
- Advanced electronic signature: it is the one that identifies the signer and is able to detect any subsequent change in the signed data.
- Recognized electronic signature: this signature is considered as the legal equivalent to the handwritten signature. Only a Certification Authority can issue it, as this verifies the identity of the certificate and is generated in a secure device to sign.
What Are The Advantages Of Using The E-Signature?
The advantages of the electronic signature over the handwritten signature are obvious. If you, as an entrepreneur or your company, need to identify or certify a large volume of documents or transactions through the traditional rubric, you can obtain great benefits in cost savings and service improvement through the digital application. Go ahead and start familiarizing yourself with its use.
- It gives you greater security and integrity of the documents: since the contents that the signature carries cannot be altered and guarantees its authentication as well as the signer’s identity.
- It guarantees you confidentiality: the content of the message will only be known by those who are authorized to do so.
- You reduce or eliminate expenses on tangibles: such as paper and ink.
- You reduce the time in process execution and considerable savings in file management procedures. This results in an increase in productivity and competitiveness of you or your company.
Is A Digital Certificate Necessary To Use The Electronic Signature?
A digital certificate guarantees the authenticity of the signature; that is, it is guaranteed that the person who signs is who he says he is, which translates into full legality. The Certification Authorities themselves are responsible for granting said digital certificates.
Can The Electronic Signature Be Falsified?
It is very difficult to falsify an electronic signature since if there is any alteration in the electronic certificate it can be falsified. Even so, it is advisable to take a series of precautions so that this cannot happen, such as protecting the certificate with a secure password or not leaving it out of our control.
What Is The Electronic Signature For?
The electronic signature is oriented, above all, to carry out operations on the Internet that in everyday life a process is needed to validate them, such as the signing of budgets or contracts. That is, it is necessary to digitally sign a document.
For example, it could be implemented in:
- Request for working life.
- Signature of electronic invoices.
- Email signature.
- Requests in administrative electronic records.
- Receipt of electronic notifications.
How Secure Is the Electronic Signature
You have to know is made up of a private key, a certificate, and an access password; that is to say, it has a secure and extremely complete and reliable access mechanism that guarantees our identity before any procedure we carry out.
An important aspect that we cannot ignore is that for nothing in the world we should give it to a third party, as this could have negative consequences and we could put our electronic transactions at risk.