Which term provides authentication of the sender, ensures message integrity, and non-repudiation services?

• A. Due Care
• B. Governance
• C. Digital Signatures
• D. Ethics

Answer: (C)

Digital signatures provide authentication of who sent a message, ensure the message hasn’t been altered, and deliver non-repudiation. The sender signs by hashing the message and encrypting that hash with their private key. The recipient uses the sender’s public key (typically via a certificate from a trusted authority) to decrypt the signature and verify the hash matches a freshly computed hash of the received message. If the hashes align, the recipient knows the signer possessed the corresponding private key (authenticating the sender) and that the message identity hasn’t changed (integrity). Because the private key is under the signer’s control, producing a valid signature ties the message to that specific sender, making it difficult for the signer to deny having sent it later (non-repudiation).

The other terms aren’t cryptographic mechanisms: due care refers to acting with reasonable caution, governance covers policies and oversight, and ethics concerns moral principles.