Consider the following statements: A digital signature is I. An electronic record that identifies the certifying authority issuing it II. Used to serve as a proof of identify of an individual to access information or server on Internet III. An electronic method of signing an electronic document and ensuring that the original content is unchanged Which of the statements given above is/are correct

Only statement III is correct. A digital signature is an electronic method of signing a document that also lets the receiver check that the content has not been altered since signing. It works through asymmetric cryptography and a hash function, and the IT Act, 2000 (Section 3) recognises this method of authenticating electronic records.

• Statement I is wrong. An electronic record that identifies the certifying authority is a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC), not the signature itself. A DSC is issued by a Certifying Authority licensed under the IT Act, 2000.
• Statement II is wrong. Using a credential to prove identity for access to a server or information describes authentication, which is the job of a digital certificate or a login mechanism. A digital signature is mainly about integrity and non-repudiation.

The core concept is the difference between a signature (integrity and signer authentication), a certificate (binding a public key to an identity), and authentication. For Mains, this links to e-governance, the Aadhaar and DigiLocker ecosystem, and cyber-security policy.

Note: the 2008 amendment to the IT Act introduced the broader term 'electronic signature' (Section 3A), and digital signature remains one technology within it.

Trap: Aspirants often read statement I as a definition, because the certificate is the document that 'identifies' the signer. Remember that the signature is the act and the certificate is the credential.