Overview of Digital Signatures (Concept)

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Overview of Digital Signatures

Concept

Quick Reference

With a digital signature, you can collaborate more easily with others on projects. Recipients of drawings are provided with reliable information about who created a set of drawings and whether they were modified since they were digitally signed.

Specifically, digital signatures provide the following benefits:

Recipients of digitally signed files can be sure that the organizations or individuals who sent the files are who they claim to be.
A digital signature guarantees that a file has not changed since the file was signed.
A signed file cannot be rejected as invalid. The signer of a file cannot disown the file later by claiming the signature was forged.

A digital signature is not the same as a digitized signature. While a digital signature helps prove your identity and a drawing's authenticity, a digitized signature is nothing more than an electronic version of your own signature. It can be forged and copied, and has no real security value.

Digital IDs use two keys—a public key, which anyone can use to validate a digital signature, and a private key, which is known only by the originator of the digital ID. The private key is used to create the digital signature. To learn more about digital IDs, digital signatures, and public and private keys, search the Internet for these terms.

You can attach signatures to files that are compatible with AutoCAD 2000 and later file formats, including files generated by the eTransmit feature. To attach a signature to multiple files at once, or to attach a signature to a file compatible with the AutoCAD 2000 or later drawing-file format, see Attach Digital Signatures Dialog Box in the Command Reference.

NoteOnce you attach a digital signature to a drawing file, it will either be valid or invalid. You cannot remove the digital signature from the drawing file. If a digital signature was attached to a drawing in error, save the drawing in DXF format, open the DXF file, and then save it in DWG format.