| When the Digital Signature Act (DSA) came into force in 1998, it was described as cutting-edge legislation at the time. This Act reflects the ultimate aim of the government in gearing Malaysia towards becoming an established international e-commerce hub. Thus, this demonstrates the commitment by the government to propel Malaysia as a regional leader in international business transactions. However, after ten years of existence, there is a need to conduct a study on the adequacy of this Act in inculcating and building public trust in electronic business environment. In addition to this Act, the introduction of the Electronic Commerce Act 2006 (ECA) hoped to give more protections to electronic business transactions. Even though the ECA is yet to come into force, it has received millions of critics as to whether it could provide a better security to virtual businesses. Therefore, this study is very pertinent in examining whether the DSA 1997 and the ECA 2006, as the existing legal framework on electronic signature in Malaysia, provide a better security for businesses on the Internet. Hence, this paper aims to analyze the adequacy of the electronic signature laws in Malaysia to authenticate virtual documents. For this purpose, the DSA 1997and the ECA 2006 will be the major statutes to be discussed in the paper. In addition to that, electronic signature laws in other jurisdictions, in particular, Asian countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and China will also be referred to in analyzing the issue. It is hoped that this paper would provide an answer as to whether the existing laws on electronic signature in Malaysia are adequate for the security of electronic business transactions. |