Week 2 - Digital Signatures

Question 1

What is a digital signature?

Answer 1

provides assurances of message integrity and origin authentication

e.g
hand signature

Question 2

What key pair is used in digital signatures, and what are their functions?

Answer 2

Private key - signing the message.

Public key - verifying the signature.

Question 3

How does a digital signature ensure message integrity?

Answer 3

allows the receiver to verify the messaage using sender’s public key. confirming it has not been altered

Question 4

Why are cryptographic hash functions used in digital signatures?

Answer 4

Hash functions generate a fixed-length output, from any sized message.
avoiding issues with large or small messages

Question 5

What is the process of creating a digital signature?

Answer 5

1. message is hashed using cryptographic has function
2. a copy of the hashed message is encrypted with sender’s private key
3. Both the original message and the signature are sent

Question 6

How is a digital signature verified?

Answer 6

1. receiver hashes OG message
2. decrypt digital signature with sender’s public key
3. checks if 2 hashes match

Question 7

What is mutual authentication?

Answer 7

both parties (e.g., Alice and Bob) sign messages to authenticate each other,