A digital signature is created by which of the following methods?

A digital signature is established through the process of signing a hash of the message with the sender's private key. This method ensures both the integrity and authenticity of the message. By creating a hash, a fixed-size representation of the data, the system can efficiently verify that the message has not been altered. The private key is used to sign this hash, making it unique to the sender and ensuring that only they could have created that signature.

When the recipient receives the message, they can generate the hash themselves and compare it with the hash obtained by decrypting the signature using the sender's public key. If the two hashes match, it confirms that the message is unchanged and authentic, as only the corresponding private key could have produced the digital signature that was verified with the public key. This is the foundational operation of asymmetric cryptography and emphasizes the role of both keys in establishing secure communications.

In contrast, encrypting the entire message would not produce a digital signature, as it would simply secure the content rather than provide a verifiable signature. Using a public key to encrypt the sender's identity does not pertain to the process of creating a digital signature. Storing the message in a secure cloud involves data storage solutions that do not provide any features related