The transition from a full-time reliance on wet-ink signatures toward a world of digital and electronic signing has kicked into a higher gear in recent years. As businesses look for more opportunities to automate and speed up how they work, electronic signatures have been one area where achieving significant gains has been within easy reach. Online signing is much faster and far less dependent on factors outside the company's control.
Even so, security is often a concern, especially for newcomers just beginning to adopt and integrate a fully-featured e-signature solution. In Kofax SignDoc, one of today's most cutting-edge platforms for signing today, we've included a wide array of gold-standard security improvements for business users to enjoy. Perhaps most importantly, SignDoc includes support for plugins that deliver two-factor authentication, also called 2FA. What do you need to know about this important feature?
Why Adopt 2-Factor Authentication?
Adding an additional authentication element is the ideal way to ensure the trustworthiness of digital interaction. The risk of threats such as "man in the middle" attacks is not small today, and it is vital to ensure the legitimacy of every signing ceremony. Two-factor provides a quick, simple, and proven way to achieve that legitimacy in a business context.
Using a Code-Based Authentication Plugin
SignDoc supports a two-factor authentication plugin that works in a typical manner most 2FA users today know. In other words, the plugin generates a unique one-time code that will expire after a set period. The user receives this code securely to a method of communication to which ideally only that user has access. The user then inputs the code during the signing ceremony, which the SignDoc server then verifies as the correct code. This validates the signing process and ensures that you end up with a record of a secure, verified signature.
Adding Knowledge-Based Authentication to SignDoc Workflows
Knowledge-based authentication is a more powerful and unique form of 2FA that does not rely on pre-generated codes but on secret answers to questions agreed upon in advance. SignDoc also supports plugins for KBA as a form of two-factor. However, you must ensure your business has a contract with a third-party KBA provider.
This third party must be a trustworthy agency providing authentication services. During the signing ceremony, the signing parties will answer one or several questions with answers known only to those individuals. This again provides a verifiable audit trail of user actions to verify the security of the transaction.
Explore How You Can Transform Your Approach to Signing Today
From simple numeric codes sent to a device controlled by the signing party to an extensive knowledge-based approach for extra security, SignDoc's 2FA plugin support makes it an excellent enterprise option. Not only that but its integration into other software solutions such as Kofax Power PDF means you can deploy a unified ecosystem that helps redefine and reshape old business processes for the work of tomorrow.
See the difference firsthand when you explore more about SignDoc. Have questions? Let us know how we can help.