Digital signatures enable the recipient of a message to verify that the message was, in fact, sent by the purported originator of the message. Digital signatures are based on the use of public key cryptography.

To produce a digital signature, the sender applies a digital signature algorithm to the message to be sent—usually a message digest followed by a signature with the private key. Upon receipt, the recipient inputs the sender's public key and the message in the digital signature verification algorithm, and the result indicates if the digital signature is valid. If the signature is valid, the recipient is assured that the message is from whom it claims to be from and has not been tampered with in transit.

Digital signatures are also contained in digital certificates, which are used to authenticate a user to a server or service, and the reverse. These digital certificates are issued by a certifying authority, which is a trusted entity that vouches for the identity and public key of the user for whom the certificates were issued.

The ClearPath MCP system supports the RSA digital signature algorithm (the most widely used digital signature algorithm), and the ECDSA signature algorithm.