# What is the difference between an electronic signature (eSignature) and a digital signature?

What is the difference between an electronic signature (eSignature) and a digital signature?

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: about 7 years ago
- Net upvotes: 1


## Comments
### Comment 1

I believe that an important part of the development of online business is the introduction of new technologies that greatly facilitate the process of doing business. For example, here https://www.pandadoc.com/blog/electronic-signatures/ you can read an article about an e-signature and its creation, which will help you carry out various transactions much faster, even without being in the office.

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: almost 4 years ago
- Author title: Software Engineer – Cisco



### Comment 2

E-signature: Under legal parlance, an electronic signature refers to “any electronic indication of intent to agree to a record”. The presence of eSignature has dominantly increased with the passing of E-sign Act in 2000 which makes it legally enforceable.  eSignature has its own unique feature and that is its ease of use. Customers get the advantage of signing a document using a verbal signature, like giving consent over the phone, with a simple click on the box, a visual representation of their signature, and any electronically signed authorization. A real electronic signature has four main components:

1. Method of signing
2. Data Authentication
3. User Authentication
4. Captured Intent to eSign

eSignatures are not fully regulated compared to digital signatures. Because most electronic signature providers simply use an image of your signature super-imposed on a document, the authenticity and integrity of the document is often questioned as it is difficult to identify the real owner of the document as it is not certified.  Just an image of your signature placed on a document cannot be verified especially if someone tampers  with the document after it is signed. With ZorroSign, however, the eSignature is real and not just an image and customers are protected against post execution forgery and tampering using our proprietary document 4n6 (forensics) token technology.


Digital Signature:  Uses a cryptographic technique. The digital signature encryption helps in securing the data that is associated with the signed document. The formula of a digital signature is that of a validation, like notaries in the past. The notaries were invented when paper-based documents were forged. Even today, notaries play a key role in ensuring and verifying transaction between parties. The same problem exists with eSignatures and digital signature helps in solving this problem and is the online equivalent of the notary.

In the world of digital transactions, the most popular authentication method, Public Key Infrastructures (PKI), is necessary to help ascertain the identity of  people signing documents, devices used to sign documents, and services used. PKI goes way beyond the use of user IDs and passwords. It employs cryptographic technologies such as digital signatures and digital certificates to create unique credentials (using combination of public and private keys) that can be validated beyond reasonable doubt and on a mass scale.

The process of applying the digital signature will be explained in the following steps:

1. The software creates a unique digital fingerprint (called a hash) of the document content using a mathematical algorithm.
2. The hash is encrypted using the signer’s private key.
3.The encrypted hash and the signer’s public key will be combined to make a digital signature.
4. This digital signature will be attached to the document.
5. The digitally signed document is now fully secured and ready to use.

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: over 6 years ago




## Related Product
[ZorroSign eSignature & Digital Transaction Management](https://www.g2.com/products/zorrosign-esignature-digital-transaction-management/reviews)

## Related Category
[E-Signature](https://www.g2.com/categories/e-signature)

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