The first SIM cards equipped with the security certificate required for the mobile signature are now being offered by Elisa, Finland’s second-largest mobile network operator. The basis for this is the UniverSIM product line from international technology group Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) with signature functionality and encryption mechanism. Elisa is the first operator to work together with the Finnish Population Register Centre to offer this new service of user identification via the mobile phone. A citizen certificate is stored on the SIM card from G&D. This is part of the mobile security architecture – the Public Key Infrastructure – and ensures the required security and uniqueness in identification. If, for example, a citizen wants to register a move to a new home online, he opens the corresponding page on the Internet, fills out the form, and receives a message from the registration office on his mobile telephone requesting him to enter his mobile signature for the online request. The citizen enters a personal PIN to permit the generation of the digital signature. This is generated by the SIM card and returned to the registration office as a special encrypted message.
Citizens who want to use the digital signature over their mobile telephones for official business can register at a local police station and sign up for the service. The G&D SIM cards with the integrated security certificate are based on Java™ technology and have a memory capacity of 128 Kb. The cards are currently available at selected Elisa outlets.
By the end of 2005, the Finnish OKO Bank, the social insurance agency, the Tax Administration, as well as the Ministry of Labour want to offer the mobile citizen certificate as a new form of authentication for their services. This will enable the Finnish people to use a nationally recognized electronic identity for digital services in the future.
“With the introduction of a mobile signature for online official services, Finland is again proving its leading role in mobile communication and in eGovernment. We are proud to have been able to support this innovative project from the start with our smart card technology” said Dr. Klaus Vedder, Executive Vice President and head of the telecommunication division at Giesecke & Devrient.
Quelle: Publictechnology, 26.07.2005
