eIDAS - Trusted Infrastructure Solutions
The eIDAS (Electronic Identification, Authentication, and Trust Services) Regulation is a set of regulations established by the European Union (EU) to facilitate secure and seamless electronic transactions across member states. An eIDAS solution refers to the technologies and systems that comply with the eIDAS Regulation and enable electronic identification, authentication, and trust services.
Some of the key components of an eIDAS solution include:
- Electronic Identification (eID): An eIDAS solution provides electronic identification capabilities that allow individuals and organizations to establish their digital identity for various online transactions. This includes the use of electronic identification cards, digital certificates, and other secure authentication methods.
- Trust Services: The eIDAS Regulation also covers trust services, which include electronic signatures, electronic seals, electronic time stamps, and electronic registered delivery services. An eIDAS solution ensures the integrity, authenticity, and legal validity of these trust services to enhance the security and reliability of electronic transactions. eID and Trust Services allow companies to leverage onboarding opportunities such as Know Your Customer (KYC) - the process of identifying and verifying the identity of customers.
- Authentication Mechanisms: eIDAS solutions incorporate strong authentication mechanisms to verify the identity of users during electronic transactions. This involves multifactor authentication (MFA) techniques, such as combining something the user knows (a password, for example), something the user owns (which could be a smart card), and something the user is (biometric data).
- Cross-Border Interoperability: One of the primary objectives of eIDAS is to facilitate cross-border interoperability of electronic identification and trust services among EU member states. An eIDAS solution ensures that electronic identities and trust services issued in one member state are recognized and accepted in other member states, eliminating the need for multiple separate solutions.
- Secure Infrastructure: eIDAS solutions are built on secure infrastructures that protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic identification and trust services. This includes strong encryption, secure key management, and compliance with relevant security standards and best practices.
- Legal Validity: An eIDAS solution follows the legal requirements outlined in the eIDAS Regulation to ensure that electronic transactions are as legally legitimate as paper-based equivalents. This includes ensuring the authenticity and integrity of electronic signatures and other trust services.
eIDAS promoted interoperability across the 27 EU Member States, ensuring that countries mutually recognize each other’s notified electronic identification schemes. It also ensures that trust services offered by service providers who comply with the Regulation's requirements can be used as evidence in legal proceedings.
eIDAS 2.0 (also known as eIDAS2), is the latest version of the regulation. This update builds upon the original eIDAS law and aims to enhance the security and reliability of electronic identification and trust services within the EU. The introduction of the concept of "qualified trust service providers" (QTSPs) is another key change brought about by the eIDAS 2.0 regulation. These are trust service providers who meet the EU's highest security and reliability standards. eIDAS 2.0 is expected to be in force by September 2023.
Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) play a significant role in eIDAS compliant solutions, for the provision of digital certificates, timestamps and digital signatures. Utimaco HSMs are certified under eIDAS standards in order to achieve higher levels of data security and trust whilst also maintaining high service levels and business agility. They provide a scalable and FIPS-compliant compliant hardware solution for secure key storage and processing inside the boundary of the HSM.
- A Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is crucial for the security of digital environments. This includes users, networks, applications, components and devices.
- Device Attestation. Provides a digital identity for components and devices that enable them to authenticate themselves when connecting to other systems.
- Enables tracking of devices and components throughout their lifecycle as well as secure communication
Business Value of an eIDAS Solution
eIDAS for the Financial Services Sector
- eID for a trusted verification of a client's identity and compliance with Know Your Customer and anti-money laundering requirements
- Facilitating the opening of new bank and financial service accounts with clients in other countries using remote and trusted identification and access to accounts
- eSignature to remotely sign financial service contracts with clients
- Electronic registered delivery service for the quick and secure exchange of important documentation such as contractual agreements
eIDAS for Businesses
- Ensuring that services and products are delivered on time. Gaining trust from customers is critical for every business, and contributes to increasing customer satisfaction by focusing efforts on establishing a relationship with them.
- Provides enhanced trust between parties through secure solutions and legal certainty.
- Enables shorter process cycles, large-scale automation, simplified and faster task execution, and total cost reduction while preserving product, service, and support quality.
eIDAS for the Retail Sector
- eID for stronger identification checks on customers purchasing restricted or high-value goods
- eSignatures and eTimestamps to reduce costs through more streamlined processes and enhance document tracking
Identity Management for Organizations
- A Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is crucial for the security of digital environments. This includes users, networks, applications, components and devices.
- Device Attestation. Provides a digital identity for components and devices that enable them to authenticate themselves when connecting to other systems.
- Enables tracking of devices and components throughout their lifecycle as well as secure communication
