” ‘The primary object (of digital signatures) was to replace the
written signature in business communications,’ says Diffie, now a
distinguished engineer with Sun Microsystems, Inc. ‘Digital
signatures work amazingly similar to written signatures, but not
exactly. Some thinking is required to figure out how to adopt our
business practices to use digital signatures.’
But government isn’t waiting for businesses to solve the
issue. Already some 44 states have adopted ‘electronic’ signature
guidelines, which has caused no small amount of confusion for
businesses looking to create legally-binding electronic documents.
That’s because each state law is different. Some states
consider PINs and passwords as legally binding electronic
signatures, according to Nanette Ditosto, who, as vice president of
business development for CERTCO, Inc., a New York-based Internet
Security Company, has been involved with formation of digital
signature guidelines here and in Europe. Others, like the state of
Utah, are very detailed, specifying that only entities authorized
by the state are allowed to issue digital signatures. The rest of
the states just leave it up to other state agencies to figure
things out.”
“Meanwhile, cyberspace waits for no man. Already, a number of
innovative, private-sector organizations are rolling out digital
signature-supporting Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) networks… of
their own, regardless of all the confusion. And it is these
private-sector infrastructures that may just set the standards for
legally-binding signatures in cyberspace.”