In the context of email encryption and digital signatures, authenticity is typically ensured through the use of a sender’s digital signature. Dan would use his private key to create a digital signature on his emails. This signature is unique to both the sender and the email content. Alex, on the other hand, would use Dan’s public key to verify the digital signature. If the verification process confirms that the signature was created with Dan’s private key and that the email has not been altered, Alex can be assured of the email’s authenticity. This process does not involve encrypting the entire email with a private key, as that would make it unreadable to anyone except the holder of the corresponding private key, which is not shared. Instead, encryption of the email content is typically done using symmetric encryption, where both Dan and Alex would use a shared secret key.

References: The explanation aligns with the principles of public key infrastructure (PKI) and digital signatures as outlined in the EC-Council’s Certified Network Defender (CND) program, which covers various aspects of network security, including email encryption and digital signature mechanisms12.