What does the DTS use to digitally sign documents?

The Defense Travel System (DTS) utilizes the Department of Defense (DoD) Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates to digitally sign documents. This technology ensures a secure and verifiable method of authentication and integrity for the documents processed within the system.

PKI provides a framework that facilitates the creation, management, and distribution of digital certificates, which authenticate users and verify the integrity of the transmitted information. By employing PKI, DTS ensures that the signatures are unique to each user and cannot be duplicated, thus enhancing the security of sensitive travel-related information.

This makes the use of PKI certificates suitable for compliance with federal regulations and DoD guidelines, which require strong authentication methods for systems handling official documents and personal data. A password, biometric scanner, or manual signature does not offer the same level of security and verification as PKI, which is why these options do not align with the practices established within DTS.