iSACA Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certification Practice Exam

What role do digital signatures play in cybersecurity?

1. Ensure data availability

2. Prevent unauthorized modifications

3. Provide nonrepudiation

4. Enhance data storage

The correct answer is: Provide nonrepudiation

Digital signatures play a critical role in cybersecurity primarily by providing nonrepudiation. Nonrepudiation refers to the assurance that someone cannot deny the validity of their signature on a document or a message. When a digital signature is created, it involves a unique cryptographic process that combines the sender's private key with the data being sent. This process ensures that the message came from the claimed sender and that it has not been altered during transmission. By verifying a digital signature, the recipient can confirm both the authenticity of the sender and the integrity of the message. This means that the sender cannot later claim that they did not send the message, thus providing strong legal proof of the action taken, which is crucial in numerous legal and business contexts. While the other choices address important aspects of data security, they do not align as closely with the primary function of digital signatures. For instance, ensuring data availability relates more to systems and infrastructure than to the function of signatures, while preventing unauthorized modifications is a broader concept that involves various security controls. Enhancing data storage pertains to how data is managed but does not connect directly to the capabilities of digital signatures.