What methodology is used to create a digital signature?

The methodology used to create a digital signature involves signing a hash with the sender's private key. This process leverages asymmetric cryptography, which uses a pair of keys – a public key and a private key.

When creating a digital signature, the data to be signed is first processed through a hash function to produce a fixed-size hash value. This hash represents the original data in a condensed format and ensures that any alteration to the data will lead to a different hash value. Subsequently, the hash is encrypted using the sender's private key. This encryption forms the digital signature.

The significance of using the sender's private key lies in the way digital signatures support authentication, integrity, and non-repudiation. Only the sender, who possesses the private key, can generate the corresponding digital signature for the document. The recipient can then use the sender's public key to decrypt the signature and verify that it matches the hash of the received data. If they match, it confirms that the data has not been altered and that it was indeed sent by the claimed sender.

The other options do not accurately represent the process of creating a digital signature. Encrypting data before sending it pertains to data confidentiality but does not specifically address the signing process. Signing a hash with the