Are E-Signatures Safe? What You Need to Know

What You Should Know About E-Signature Security

If you’re interested in learning about and avoiding common online scams, you might also be the type of person interested in knowing whether certain new technologies are safe.

Consider the example of electronic signatures, or e-signatures. You may have received digital copies of documents and were told that instead of printing them out, signing them, and mailing them back to whoever sent them, you could simply provide an e-signature and email the documents back.

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Or, you might have considered whether your business should start saving time and minimizing waste by using e-signatures instead of traditional signatures written in ink.

In either case, it’s understandable if you’re wondering whether e-signatures are safe. This is an understandable concern. Keep reading to learn more.

E-Signatures: Much Safer Than You Might Think

E-signatures tend to resemble traditional ink signatures. Because of this, many make the mistake of assuming that e-signatures are nothing more than digital replicas of signatures that resemble them visually but don’t offer any additional features.

That’s not actually so. A compliant e-signature uses various algorithms and processes to verify the identity of the one signing a document with an e-signature. This is why many believe that e-signatures may actually be safer and more secure than ink.

Consider the difficulty involved in forging both types of signatures. Forging an ink signature isn’t necessarily something everyone can do, but it’s something many can learn to do if they’re dedicated enough. Additionally, many people already have the skills needed to forge ink signatures convincingly. Some people are more than happy to offer their “services” to unscrupulous individuals in need of realistic forgeries.

Forging an e-signature is much more challenging. To do so, one would typically need access to the device and password associated with a person’s e-signature. Obtaining these can be pretty difficult.

Technology Wins

This degree of security can also guard against disputes that might otherwise play out more dramatically than they have to. For example, perhaps a new client or business partner has suddenly decided they’d like to back out of an agreement they’ve already signed the contract for. They might do so by arguing their signature was forged.

Proving they’re lying can be difficult if their signature was a traditional ink one. The matter could even turn into a legal issue. If you can’t find a witness to confirm under oath that they signed the contract, you might have to go to such lengths as hiring a handwriting expert to examine their signature and determine if it’s genuine.

This would all be very time-consuming. It’s also avoidable with e-signatures. It’s far more challenging for someone to dishonestly claim an e-signature was forged.

Again, you should also consider the way e-signatures can potentially help your organization reduce costs and boost efficiency. When you send or receive digital documents that require e-signatures instead of ink signatures, you can save money on paper and shipping costs while also saving time by emailing documents instead of sending them through traditional mail.

These are all reasons to strongly consider giving e-signatures a try.

How To Report a Scammer

However, if you find anything suspicious, you can also officially report scammers to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) using this link below: Report To The FTC Here

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Meanwhile, educate yourself with some other fraud-related materials listed right under this paragraph, so that you know how to stay safe online. Last but not least, feel free to use the comments section below to expose other scammers.

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