What is a Digital Signature?

A digital signature authenticates electronic documents in a manner similar to a handwritten signature, which authenticates the printed documents. This virtual signature cannot be forged. The recipient of a digitally signed document can verify that the digitally signed document originated from the person whose signature is attached to the document and that the message has not been altered either intentionally or accidentally from the time it was signed. Also, the signer of a document cannot later disown it by claiming that the virtual signature was forged.

In other words, digital signatures provides: Authentication, Data Integrity, and added security.