What does a digital signature provide to the recipient?

A digital signature serves as a cryptographic mechanism that allows recipients to confirm both the integrity of the data and the identity of the sender. When a sender creates a digital signature using their private key, the signature is unique to the data being sent. This means that if even a single bit of the data changes, the digital signature will no longer be valid when checked with the sender's public key.

Verification of data integrity is crucial because it ensures that the message has not been altered in transit. A valid digital signature provides assurance that the message received is exactly what the sender intended to send.

Additionally, a digital signature helps establish the sender's identity by providing a means for the recipient to authenticate that the signature indeed comes from the purported sender. This is essential in preventing impersonation and ensuring trust in digital communications.

The other options do not accurately represent the functions of a digital signature. Data compression is unrelated to digital signatures, instantaneous message delivery is a characteristic of transmission methods rather than security features, and a digital signature does not permit changes to the data—it actually ensures that any changes can be detected.