What are the threats and risks of electronic signatures?

Electronic signatures are a form of digital signature that is used with the intent to authenticate or make an electronic document. While it can be convenient, there are some risks you should know about before using them for your business.

We'll go over some of these in more detail below:

8 Potential Threats that E-Signature Bring:

Risk 1: The court can throw your case out!

You’ve created a fabulous electronic contract, and all stakeholders have signed it. But then there is a break out, and you head to the court. In this case, the court will conduct a detailed analysis of the contract. 

Thus you need to ensure that your signing software complies with the relevant signature laws such as ESIGN and UETA in the USA. If the software doesn’t support legislation, the case will go against you.

Risk 2: Something is missing!

Reliable digital signing programs are based on a “hashing.” These programs make a ‘hash’ of the content and form a unique fingerprint, just like DNA. The hash secures the document, and usually, it is created at the start of the signing process. If anyone changes anything in the contract, the hash will also change with it.

Ensure that your E-signing software includes audit systems to ensure that inappropriate changes don’t happen in the contract, and you can trace those changes.

Risk 3: The digital signatory isn’t really who they say they are!

When anyone electronically signs an agreement, the signature creates a unique digital certificate. It is a digital representation of a business or a person and is created after verifying who they are, who they say they are, and how they are made.

Usually, digital certificates have a public and a private key. The private key encrypts the hash of the contract, whereas the public key can be used by anyone and provides the details of the person that the certificate exemplifies.

The issue occurs when any other person uses another person’s certificate without their permission. To prevent it, always secure the certificate with a PIN.

Risk 4: It can be fake!

Digital signatures can be used to fake a contract's signature on an online document. If you don't use signing software that has been built with security in mind, then fraud can happen. Indeed it is the most severe risk of e-signatures and contracts.

Risk 5: Someone can steal your documents!

Working online and e-signing contracts and documents is quick and simple. But there is a flaw in keeping contracts on a server that is accessible over the internet. That’s why you need to keep your online documents encrypted. Thus if it gets stolen, the hackers cannot access it.

Risk 6: The e-Signature image can get stolen from the server!

The protection and security of your electronic signatures on a server are essential. When someone wants to masquerade as you, they could use your signature and mark. So make sure this image is kept under security protocols in any database or system.

Risk 7: Software vulnerabilities!

When choosing an e-signing software or solution, ensure that it is protected by anti-virus and anti-malware programs. Similarly, keep updating those antiviruses regularly. Apart from it, ensure that other apps and software such as web browsers and operating systems are also up to date and patched.

Risk 8: Do it in the right way!

It’s simple to use digital signatures for electronic contracts. Plus, there are various plugins that you can use to integrate e-Signatures into your website. However, you need to be vigilant and never proceed without reading the contract’s terms and conditions.

Safe E-signing with Fairly Even

E-contracts and E-signatures have created new opportunities for people to work remotely, which is great. But with this opportunity comes the potential of being less vigilant when it comes to contract and document signing online. 

We at Fairly Even can help you avoid these risks by providing a secure digital signature process that guarantees your documents are legally binding and fully compliant with all applicable laws.

Our experts are always there to help ensure that our customer’s needs are met in every aspect of their business dealings – whether they happen face-to-face or digitally. What do you think about what we discussed? Are you excited yet?