 - Nonrepudiation is the assurance that someone cannot deny something. Typically, nonrepudiation refers to the ability to ensure that a party to a contract or a communication cannot deny the authenticity of their signature on a document or the sending of a message that they originated.
To repudiate means to deny. For many years, authorities have sought to make repudiation impossible in some situations. You might send registered mail, for example, so the recipient cannot deny that a letter was delivered. Similarly, a legal document typically requires witnesses to signing so that the person who signs cannot deny having done so.
On the Internet, a digital signature is used not only to ensure that a message or document has been electronically signed by the person that purported to sign the document, but also, since a digital signature can only be created by one person, to ensure that a person cannot later deny that they furnished the signature.
Since no security technology is absolutely fool-proof, some experts warn that a digital signature alone may not always guarantee nonrepudiation. It is suggested that multiple approaches be used, such as capturing unique biometric information and other data about the sender or signer that collectively would be difficult to repudiate.
Email nonrepudiation involves methods such as email tracking that are designed to ensure that the sender cannot deny having sent a message and/or that the recipient cannot deny having received it.
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04 Sep 2008
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