For the Norwegian Police, the PKI will form the fundamental basis to conduct up-to-date and secure checks of electronic passports and Electronic Residence Permits (ERP) in the future. Under the contract secunet will, among other things, deliver its eID PKI Suite and hardware security modules, configure and install the complete system and service and maintain it for many years to come.
"Norway is among the leading nations when it comes to electronic travel documents and modern border control systems. We are delighted that the Norwegian Police have decided on the secunet eID PKI Suite, a flexible solution at the forefront of technology, for the management of the necessary certificates," says Dr. Rainer Baumgart, Chairman of the Management Board of secunet, commenting on winning the tender.
The increasing numbers of electronic identity documents require complex background systems. Public Key Infrastructure systems are necessary for the creation, use and management of certificates in order to regulate secure and authorised access to identity documents. During the verification process, reading devices and identity documents make use of certificates which are managed via a PKI.
The project will begin this year with the creation of a National Public Key Directory (N-PKD) for the management and provision of basic information for the authentication of electronic travel documents. The N-PKD forms the national counterpart to the ICAO PKI (International Civil Aviation Organisation), which ensures the world-wide interoperability of electronic passports.
In subsequent phases Country Signing Certificate Authority, Country Verifying Certification Authority, Document Verifying Certification Authority and Single Point of Contact components will be delivered. Together, the building blocks create a powerful background system for the issuing, management and checking of eIDs. Additional components can also be added to the system. Complete implementation of the project is planned for the end of 2015.
In addition to PKI solutions, secunet offers further components for border control infrastructures. These include the biometric middleware secunet biomiddle, the eGate solution secunet easygate for automated border crossing and client solutions for the verification of electronic identification documents at border control posts. secunet border control systems are already in use in several European countries, including Germany, Latvia, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
