Adobe Certified Document Signing allows authors to create Adobe® PDF files that clearly certify to recipients that the author's identity has been verified by a trusted organization and that the document has not been altered. The solution allows organizations to engage in more secure and reliable electronic document exchange. Electronic Document Control refers to the security and maintenance of integrity of the data and information present in electronic documents that are used by enterprises for electronic exchange of data.

The internet is making in-roads into every sphere of life today. Businesses are increasingly turning towards electronic means for all their internal as well as external communications. With offices spread across the globe, electronic communication is the best method of information exchange for almost all enterprises today.

While make information exchange easier, electronic communications have also brought the headache of security. It is easy to breach the security of documents and information sent over the internet and through other electronic means. Hence almost all enterprises are looking for better means of electronic document control today to keep these security breaches under check.

This is one aspect of electronic document control. It is very easy to store electronic documents on a computer or a server and share these documents across the enterprise through an intranet or the internet. It is just as simple for outsiders with the right knowledge to gain access to these electronic documents.

Electronic document management services and security measures can help prevent this by restricting access to the documents. Through electronic document management, enterprises can also streamline their electronic information exchange and ensure that the right documents reach the right people.

Electronic document control requires certain concrete security measures for it to be effective. These security measures can be in the form of certified digital signatures on the electronic documents as well as restricted administrative access to the documents.

Majority of enterprises are today turning to using PDF documents for management of their electronic documents. This is because PDF documents are comparatively harder to tamper with and provide higher level of information security. At the same time, there are higher level security services available for management and control of PDF documents as well.

These are in the form of adobe cds Certified Document Signing services for Adobe® PDF documents. With CDS it becomes comparatively easier to control and secure PDF documents and share the information contained in them electronically. There are of course other methods for electronic document control including special software. All of these however require extensive training and can be quite expensive as well. Using Certified Digital Signature services prove to be much more secure, cost-effective and easier to use. Be wise and implement electronic document control in your organization… it will make your business much stronger and safer.

A digital signature is a term in internet cryptography and in the simplest of terms it can be described as the digital version of a physical signature. The main point of difference between the two is that a digital signature is electronic while a physical signature is written.

While digital signatures can be used in a number of applications and to sign various types of documents, it finds maximum use in PDF format documents. PDF Digital Signature is an integral part of the PDF documents created using Adobe applications and all versions of Adobe Acrobat allow users digitally sign PDF documents they create.

A PDF digital signature normally has two keys – a user’s secret or private key and a second public key. The secret or private key allows the user to sign a PDF document while the public key allows recipients to verify the digital signature present in the PDF file. A digital signature is actually the output of the combined process of these two keys.

Just like written signatures, PDF digital signatures are useful in verifying and validating the information or data with which they are associated. PDF digital signatures are especially useful for enterprises and organizations that need to share data electronically and use PDF documents for this purpose. A digital signature can help verify the integrity of the data being shared.

Digital signatures can be used with any form of data transmission right from e-mails to contracts, or even messages sent in a more complicated cryptographic protocol. The PDF digital signature on the other hand is designed exclusively for Adobe PDF documents.

As stated above, digital signatures find maximum use in PDF documents on account of the fact that all Adobe applications come with integrated facility for digitally signing documents. This facility in Adobe applications provide free digital signatures to users which they can customize according to their requirements.

PDF digital signatures provide certain special benefits when applied to PDF documents. These include:
Authentication: All PDF documents generally carry information about the author and the source of that information, it might not be accurate. PDF digital signatures can help bridge this gap by authenticating the identity of the author and source. Today it is possible to connect the ownership of a PDF digital signature to a specific user through a special verification process known as Adobe CDS (Certified Document Signing) services. When the author of a PDF document signs it with CDS, the identity of the author is automatically verified to the recipient of that document via the certified digital signature in the document. Such identity verification of digital signatures is especially important in documents and information exchanges that involve financial dealing and e-commerce.
Integrity: Certain business information exchanges require confirmation that the data contained therein has not been altered in any way during transmission. While this can be achieved to a certain extent by encrypting and hiding the data, it is possible to alter the even encrypted data without really deciphering it completely. This stands true for PDF documents as well.

But if the PDF document carries a certified digital signature, any changes made in the data by a person other than the author will invalidate the digital signature. There is currently no technology that allows a PDF that is digitally signed with a certified signature to be modified and yet retain the signature.

As you can see from the above, PDF digital signatures and especially certified PDF digital signatures are of great importance and use in modern day by electronic document control. They can make a world of difference to the security of communications of any organization, including yours. for more detail u can refer pdf digital signature FAQs.