Security token. A security token (or sometimes a hardware token, authentication token, USB token, cryptographic token, software token, virtual token, or key fob) may be a physical device that an authorized user of computer services is given to ease authentication.
The term may also refer to software tokens. Security tokens are used to prove one's identity electronically (as in the case of a customer trying to access their bank account). The token is used in addition to or in place of a password to prove that the customer is who they claim to be. The token acts like an electronic key to access something. Some may store cryptographic keys, such as a digital signature, or biometric data, such as fingerprint minutiae. Trusted timestamping. Trusted timestamping is the process of securely keeping track of the creation and modification time of a document.
Security here means that no one — not even the owner of the document — should be able to change it once it has been recorded provided that the timestamper's integrity is never compromised. The administrative aspect involves setting up a publicly available, trusted timestamp management infrastructure to collect, process and renew timestamps. Digital signature. A digital signature is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of digital messages or documents.
A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender (authentication), that the sender cannot deny having sent the message (non-repudiation), and that the message was not altered in transit (integrity).[1] Digital signatures are a standard element of most cryptographic protocol suites, and are commonly used for software distribution, financial transactions, contract management software, and in other cases where it is important to detect forgery or tampering. Explanation[edit] Digital signatures employ asymmetric cryptography.
In many instances they provide a layer of validation and security to messages sent through a non-secure channel: Properly implemented, a digital signature gives the receiver reason to believe the message was sent by the claimed sender.