The Ministry of Health seeks within its information technology strategic plan to adopt the technology of digital signature as one of the international safety standards to secure the exchange of information among the MOH various branches, departments, directorates and hospitals. The best standard method is used to apply this technology, where the Ministry of Health will contract with major companies specialized in the field of electronic signature and attract the best expertise in this field. This will ensure having secured electronic messaging, from and to the portal of the Ministry of Health. Some of the benefits of applying digital signature are:
- Credibility: Although messages include information about their content, such information are mostly not accurate. Therefore, digital signature can authenticate the source of this message.
Trust and Integrity: The sender or recipient of the message might need to make sure that the information has not been tampered during thr transaction. Messages can't be altered as encryption hides their content. If the message was digitally signed, any alteration would question the credibility of the signature.
- Linking Digital Signature to the Correct Date and Time: Digital signature protocols do not clearly confirm the date and time of the file signing. The site may or may not put the date stamp on the file. The file might include the date but its reader can doubt the credibility and veracity of this date.