Home > Resources > FAQ's

FAQ's

Frequently asked questions about digital signatures

GENERAL

What is the difference between an Electronic Signature and a Digital Signature?

Electronic Signature is a generic, technology-neutral term that refers to the universe of all of the various methods by which one can "sign" an electronic record. Although all electronic signatures are represented digitally (i.e., as a series of ones and zeroes), they can take many forms and can be created by many different technologies. Examples of electronic signatures include: a name typed at the end of an e-mail message by the sender; a digitized image of a handwritten signature that is attached to an electronic document (sometimes created via a biometrics-based technology called signature dynamics; a secret code or PIN to identify the sender to the recipient; a code or "handle" that the sender of a message uses to identify himself; a unique biometrics-based identifier and a digital signature (created through the use of public key cryptography).
Digital Signature is simply a term for one technology-specific type of electronic signature. It involves the use of public key cryptography to "sign" a message, and is perhaps the one type of electronic signature that has generated the most business and technical efforts, as well as legislative responses.

SIGNificant combines the handwritten electronic signature with the PKI digital signature to achieve a binding signature process using the familiar handwritten signature.

What is the difference between SIGNificant and other biometric signature authentication technologies?
SIGNificant creates a specific personal profile for each individual. The personal profile is a biometric analysis of a person's signatures over time. A person's two signatures can never be the same, but the degree of signature fluctuation is unique per person. SIGNificant detects each individual's unique fluctuation and fine-tunes each personal profile over time.

Can documents signed by SIGNificant be viewed and verified by users who don't have SIGNificant installed?
Yes. Viewing the handwritten signature and verifying the digital signature can be done by any user using the free Acrobat Reader.

What happens if my signature changes over time?
All signatures naturally change over time. SIGNificant recognizes the natural fluctuations in your signature and verifies that it still belongs to you. Because the SIGNificant engine updates the personal profile as each new electronic signature is inputted, it detects the natural changes or drift that occurs in each individual's signatures over time.

• Can the engine support long signatures?
  Yes. There is no limitation on signature length. In fact, long signature creates higher complexity level, making the signature profile more secure.
•  I have two different signatures. How will the engine be able to authenticate me?
  You will have to create two user names and assign each signature to a specific name. This is a database issue, which is solved by the application.
• Can I change my signature?
  Yes, you must first sign your old signature to identify yourself. Then, you may re-enroll with a new signature.
• Can I install the tablet myself?
  Yes, the tablet installation, demo and client application are very simple to install and come with an automatic setup utility. The installation of a server application, however, requires the knowledge of a system administrator.

SECURITY

•  How can I be sure that my signature is not transferred to an unauthorized person?
  The actual graphic image of your signature is not stored on the server or on any other device. The database only stores the personal profile, which consists of the biometric analysis of a set of signatures over time. It is impossible to reconstruct the signature image from its profile. In addition, the profile can not be duplicated by any means. The profile is time-stamped, making it unusable at any other time.
• What if my signature transmission is traced and resent later?
  Same answer as for the previous question. The signature is encrypted and time-stamped, making a traced transmission virtually impossible to reuse.

LOCALIZATION

Can the engine accept signatures in different languages?
Yes, the SIGNificant engine has been thoroughly tested in several languages. Among them are: English, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, French, Hebrew, Japanese and Chinese.

• Can the SIGNificant engine be localized?
  Due to our vast experience in multi lingual products (we have translated the software to nine languages including right2left, left2right and Asian languages), we provide the possibility to localize all products without having to directly access the source code.

LEGAL 

•  How does SIGNificant comply with electronic and digital signature rules and regulations?
•  Based on a PKI digital signature infrastructure, SIGNificant electronic signature complies with the prominent legislations and regulations, for both an "electronic signature" and an "advanced electronic signature".
  The law discusses these terms for an advanced electronic signature:
  (a) which is uniquely linked to the signatory,
  (b) which is capable of identifying the signatory,
  (c) which is created using means that the signatory can maintain under his sole control, and
  (d) which is linked to the data to which it relates in such a manner that any subsequent change of the data is detectable.

• 
• 
•