Which of the following is used by the recipient of a digitally signed email to verify the identity of the sender?

The correct answer is B. Sender's public key. Digital signatures work using asymmetric cryptography: the sender signs the message with their private key, and the recipient verifies the signature using the sender's public key. Because only the sender possesses their private key, a valid signature proves the message came…

General security concepts

Question

Options

ARecipient's private key
BSender's public key
CRecipient's public key
DSender's private key

How the community answered

(36 responses)

A
8% (3)
B
86% (31)
C
3% (1)
D
3% (1)

Explanation

Digital signatures work using asymmetric cryptography: the sender signs the message with their private key, and the recipient verifies the signature using the sender's public key. Because only the sender possesses their private key, a valid signature proves the message came from that sender (authentication) and was not altered (integrity). The sender's private key (D) is secret and never shared. The recipient's private key (A) is used for decrypting messages encrypted to the recipient, not for verifying signatures. The recipient's public key (C) is used by others to send encrypted messages to the recipient.

Topics

#digital signatures#public key cryptography#PKI#email security

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