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Security in Electronic Signatures and Documents

Summary: Although signing and security are often strongly associated, an electronic signature solution must make a judicious balance of both. Not enough security can jeopardize business processes, while too much security can make user adoption challenging. This article compares the various user authentication methods, and provides insight on how much security to apply in automating various processes. Overviews of information privacy law and the special requirement of authoritative copies are also included.

An electronic signature solution brings together the various technologies to automate business activities involving electronic documents and signatures such as document creation, signing, routing, delivery, and storage. Throughout, security processes are also applied at various points to (a) protect the integrity of and access to the documents, and personal or confidential information they may hold, and (b) authenticate the identity of the person involved in signing, receiving or accessing the documents.

Although an electronic signature solution automates much more than just signing, security and signing tend to be strongly associated. It is important to distinguish security and signing as one cannot replace the other. A signature has one purpose which is to capture the intent of a signer to approve, authenticate or agree to the contents of the signed document. Simply typing one’s name in a Word document will meet the legal definition of an electronic signature. However, this would be risky in most situations as the opportunity for fraudulent manipulation or use of such a signature is much too easy. As a result, security as part of electronic signatures makes them safe from tampering, forgery or misrepresentation.

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