TÜViT receives accreditation as eIDAS certifier

Accreditation was granted by the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS) on 24 June 2016 and, in addition to eIDAS, also includes certification in accordance with the associated ETSI standards (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). TÜViT can thus issue the first eIDAS certificates in time for the entry into force of these standards.

TÜViT's approval by DAkkS was granted within a few months and is initially valid for two years. The TÜV NORD Group company is thus in a position to maintain its leading position as a certifier of electronic trust services. TÜViT has already issued more than 350 certificates under the German Digital Signature Act, which has been in force up to now.

In Germany, this corresponds to around 80 percent of all certification processes carried out in accordance with the Signature Act. TÜViT issued more than 200 certificates for products with qualified electronic signatures, and another 150 or so for security concepts.

The DAkkS accreditation for TÜViT includes:

1. Creation, verification and validation of electronic signatures, electronic seals or electronic time stamps and electronic registered mail services, as well as certificates relating to these services.
2. Creation, verification and validation of certificates for website authentication.
3. Preservation of electronic signatures, seals or certificates relating to these services.

In order to ensure a successful eIDAS deployment beyond the actual conformity assessment, TÜViT also offers accompanying services. These include in particular preparatory assessments, audits, coaching and support services.

Great interest in eIDAS certificates

TÜViT is already registering great interest in conformity assessments according to eIDAS. "We are receiving enquiries not only from Germany, but also from other European countries," says Clemens Wanko, Head of the eID (Electronic Identification) and Trust Services Certification Department at TÜViT. "We are already working with numerous companies and organizations, so we will issue around ten certificates as early as the beginning of July. Above all, companies and authorities with extensive international document traffic will benefit from the standardized and cross-border norms as well as the new services," says Wanko.

As a certifier of qualified electronic trust services, TÜViT is independent, as the company does not, for example, act as an IT service provider at the same time. TÜViT works very closely with the relevant regulatory bodies as well as with the EU Commission and with standardization organizations such as ETSI, CEN (European Committee for Standardization) or ENISA (European Network and Information Security Agency).

 eIDAS has priority

The new EU regulation eIDAS will take precedence over the German Digital Signature Act from 1 July 2016 and will therefore have priority of application. However, until a Trust Services Act adapted to eIDAS is adopted in Germany, the Signature Act will remain valid for the time being. eIDAS not only regulates signatures and time stamps, but now also enables qualified seals, i.e. signatures for legal entities and other new services such as verification of seals and signatures, delivery of electronic registered mail and storage services. Above all, the new EU standard ensures legal security throughout Europe. This also supports the special quality feature "qualified trust service provider" according to eIDAS, which a provider only receives if it has undergone a corresponding audit.
http://www.tuvit.de