Digital Signatures and Public Key Encryption - Term Paper Example

The traditional paper process indicates they incur high costs and delays in processing their client requires. In most cases, financial institutions must compare their client signatures to those on the paper documents before fulfilling the request. However, using digital signatures, it will allow the banks to capture the client signatures and store them in the institution’s document management system. It will make it easier to compare the signatures without having to go through dozens of client paper documents, thus saving on paper, cost, and time (Adomi 83).

For one to obtain a client’s valid handwritten signature, a law firm must scan and fax the corresponding document to a client or send it via courier services. It increases the cost and delays in processing legal matters. At times, arrangements must be made for the client to get to the office which similarly leads to delays. However, digital signatures will allow legal organizations to get client signatures in a much more efficient and timely manner to improve and accelerate the signing of contracts, agreements, and other legal documents.

Online retail and educational organizations should employ the use of digital signatures. For online retailers such as Amazon and Wal-Mart, it makes it hard to prove whether the signature provided by the client is his. One can use the digital signatures of an individual to make orders. Online retailers should instead use numbered passcodes in verifying any form of transaction with the firms (Hollie). For educational institutions, the use of digital signatures will indicate that student might lock out their parents from accessing the academic progression and other information about their children.

A parent will not have the ability to log into the school’s website until the child provides the signature. Encryption techniques have been used in the banking industry tenure security in all in-bank and client transactions. Through encryption, a bank can prove authenticity; maintain confidentiality, integrity, and non-repudiation. There is a different type of encryption techniques each having its share of merits and demerits. However, the best method for the bank to adapt is public-key encryption.

It is a form of undisclosed message concerning two parties devoid of necessitating any preliminary interchange of secret keys. The technique will allow the bank to secure its transmissions via the net especially those involving the sensitive transfer of data. Public-key encryption allows for the existence of a private and public key. The secrecy of the private key must be maintained, unlike the public key which becomes extensively circulated. The encryption of messages will depend on the public key.

However, one must have a private key for the decryption process. For the banking sector, due to its large distribution networks, the public key encryption is the best for it will be dispersed to all its customers when sending messages. Before the transmission, a secure channel is created generating a private and public key. The symmetric key encryption uses identical keys for encrypting and decrypting messages. It indicates that an individual who has the key but is not the intended recipient of the particular message will open it.

The symmetric key transmission allows for high rates of fraud in the banking industry which will affect the business in the long run.