Digital Signature Certificate:-

DSC is digital tool for the digital document signing process. DSC presented electronically to prove one’s identity, to access information or services on the Internet or to sign certain documents digitally. It contains information about the user’s name, pin code, country, email address, date of issuance of certificate and name of the certifying authority.

DSC provides multi-level assistance of cyber security to the confidential data exchanged and various online transactions performed & protects the data by using encryption-decryption mechanisms.

Digital signature certificate use for signing and encryption. DSC is mainly used for filing Income Tax e-filing, various GST Return, e-Tendering, Patent and Trademark e-filing, MCA e-filing,government forms, documents & applications etc. DSC assures no alteration or modification of the exchanged information and validates the signer's identity.

As per the Information Technology Act 2000, the digital signature issued by licensed Certifying Authority. Certifying Authority (CA) means a person who has been granted a license to issue DSC.

 

Different class of DSC :

Class 1:- Issued to individual used to verify an email address’s association with a person & holds no legal validity in the signing of documents.

Class 2:- The identity of a person is verified against a trusted, pre-verified database and used for company registration, LLP registration, IT return filing, MCA returns filing, Income Tax Department etc.

Class 3:- The person needs to present himself or herself in front of a Registration Authority (RA) and prove his/ her identity and  in the filing of tax returns, MCA e-filing, e-Tendering, LLP registration, Patent and trademark e-filing, e-Biding, e-Auction etc.

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Now Class 3 is considered the most secure and safest form of a certificate :

Components of a Digital Signature:-

• Public Key:-This is required as part of a verification system.

• Name and Email Address:-This is required for contact information purposes and for ease of identification.

• Expiration Date of the Public Key :-This part of the signature is used to set a shelf life and enable the signature to be reset.

• Name of the Company:-This section identifies the company that owns the signature.

• Serial Number of the Digital ID:-This part is a unique number that is bundled to the signature for tracking ad extra identification reasons.

• Digital Signature of the Certification Authority:-This is a signature that is issued by the authority that issues the certificates.

 

Benefits of a Digital Signature Certificate:-

● Authentication: Helpful in authenticating the personal information details of the individual holder
when conducting business online.
● Reduced cost and time: Instead of signing the hard copy documents physically and scanning them to
send them via e-mail, you can digitally sign the PDF files and send them much more quickly. A Digital
Signature certificate holder does not have to be physically present to conduct or authorize a
business.
● Data integrity: Documents that are signed digitally cannot be altered or edited after signing, which
makes the data safe and secure. The government agencies often ask for these certificates to cross-
check and verify the business transaction.
● Authenticity of documents: Digitally signed documents give confidence to the receiver to be
assured of the signer's authenticity. They can take action on the basis of such documents without
getting worried about the documents being forged.