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The Role of User Authentication in E-Signing

Summary: User authentication (UA) is a key part of any electronic signature, and can take many forms. As this article describes, an organization’s choice of UA method should balance security and ease of use, depending on the level of risk. Find out more about the different types of UA, and how to ensure that balance.

You type your name at the bottom of a letter in Microsoft Word. That’s an electronic signature, right?

It is, according to the legal definition, because you have proven your intent to sign. What makes this a risky approach to e-signing (at best) is the fact that you have not proven that you are really the one signing.

Another, equally risky, case: You log onto your workstation using a Smart Card, and your digital certificate automatically ‘signs’ all outgoing e-mail. The authentication is almost indisputable; the Smart Card ensures e-mails came from you. But did you really intend to sign that e-mail and be bound by its contents?

The point is that, while e-signing and user authentication (UA) are two completely different things, they are both equally important pieces of a secure, legally enforceable electronic signature. Clicking an “I Agree” button on a Web site will meet the legal definition of an electronic signature, but in no way proves you were the one who signed it. Without UA, there is no link between the signature, the intent to sign and the identity of the person signing.

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