Nepal has introduced digital signature with Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai handing over the symbolic key of digital signature to chief of Office of Certification and Controller (OCC) Rajan Raj Pant amidst a function on Thursday.
OCC, an agency under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), has the authority to issue digital certificates which contains a public key and identity of the owner.
Digital signature is an electronic signature produced by Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). It consists of a pair of keys -- private and public. Private key is known to the user only and it helps to encrypt the message which helps to maintain privacy and security of messages or transactions. Similarly, public key which is known to other party, particularly the receiver, is used to decrypt the message.