Digital signatures typically provide

• A. Confidentiality
• B. Integrity
• C. Authentication
• D. Non-repudiation and Integrity

Answer: (D)

Digital signatures are about trust in the origin and the integrity of a message, not about hiding its contents. When a signer creates a signature, they hash the message and encrypt that hash with their private key. The recipient can then decrypt the signature with the signer’s public key and compare it to a fresh hash of the received message. If they match, the message hasn’t been altered (integrity) and the signer’s private key proves who signed it, which means the signer cannot later deny having sent it (non-repudiation).

Confidentiality isn’t provided by signatures because the content isn’t hidden; it’s about proving who sent it and that the message remains unchanged. Authentication is related because the signature does verify the signer’s identity, but the complete, most precise description of what digital signatures commonly deliver is non-repudiation and integrity.