Basics of SOFTPRO E-Signing Solutions

Distinction between Electronic Signatures and Digital Signatures

Most, especially those with an information theory or cryptography background, use "digital signature" to refer to a digital signature protocol using cryptographic techniques, as is sometimes applied to an 'electronic document'. Many, however, use the terms interchangeably. This leads to considerable amount of confusion as cryptographic signature techniques are very different, whatever the term used, than other electronic signatures and have extremely different security properties. Since it is the security properties which are of interest in signatures of all kinds, this is a very significant distinction.
Terminology